David Begelman, a renowned producer who was previously ousted from Columbia Pictures due to a check fraud scandal involving actor Cliff Robertson, has been found dead in his hotel room.
The Los Angeles police confirmed that Begelman, 73 years old, committed suicide.
He was discovered in his room at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Monday night.
Begelman, a resident of Beverly Hills, had checked into the hotel earlier that day.
It is believed that he shot himself in the head with a .38-caliber handgun between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
The hotel security guards found his body after a concerned friend called and requested a wellness check.
Although no suicide note was found, the police are confident in their assessment that Begelman took his own life and have ruled out further investigation.
Warren Cowan, a close friend and Hollywood publicist, revealed that Begelman had been experiencing distress and despair over a series of unsuccessful business ventures.
Begelman, originally from New York, began his career in Hollywood as a talent agent in the late 1940s.
By the early 1980s, he had become the head of three major movie studios – Columbia Pictures, MGM, and United Artists.
In 1973, Begelman left the talent agency he co-founded with Freddie Fields to take on the presidency of Columbia Pictures.
During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in the success of films like ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977) and ‘Shampoo’ (1975).
Unfortunately, his accomplishments were overshadowed by the check-forging scandal exposed by Cliff Robertson in 1977.
Under pressure from Columbia’s board of directors, Begelman resigned after Robertson provided evidence of forged signatures on a $10,000 check.
Robertson’s accountant discovered the forgery when federal tax records revealed the payment, even though the actor had not worked for the studio in years.
Begelman admitted to forging over $80,000 in company checks and misusing other Columbia funds.
He pleaded no contest and received three years of probation for embezzlement charges.
The scandalous events at Columbia were later chronicled in the book ‘Indecent Exposure’ by David McClintick.
Despite his tainted past, Begelman was appointed as the president and CEO of MGM in 1980.
After MGM acquired United Artists in 1981, he transitioned into the presidency of that studio.
For the past 13 years, Begelman had been working as an independent producer after leaving MGM-United Artists in 1982.
Begelman is survived by his wife of five years, Annabelle, and his adult daughter Leslie.
His death marks a tragic end to a career that had both remarkable successes and severe setbacks.
The entertainment industry mourns the loss of a talented producer who left an indelible mark on Hollywood.
