Betty Lasky

She was the daughter of pioneering producer Jesse L. Lasky, a key founder of Paramount Pictures and Bessie Mona Ginsberg Lasky, a painter known for her depictions of the California missions.[1] Her late brother, Jesse L. Lasky, Jr., was the screenwriter of over 50 films, including a long partnership with the DeMilles. She grew up in and around Hollywood, piquing her interest in film history. Her writing career began as a screen story analyst for RKO Pictures, the Selznick Company and the Hamilburg Agency, as well as a position editing and writing for The Players Showcase Magazine.[2]

In the 1970s, she worked with attorney Terrys T. Olender to preserve film artifacts saved by the City of Los Angeles in the Lincoln Heights Jail. As a result, she was asked by her former employer, RKO, to compile and publish a history of the film company (producer of Citizen Kane and King Kong). RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All was released in 1984 by Prentice-Hall. She also contributed the "Roots of Hollywood" chapter in Hollywood Archive: The Hidden History of Hollywood in the Golden Age (New York: Angel City Press and Universal Publishing, a division of Rizzoli) in 2000.[3]

Miss Lasky died of pneumonia on the afternoon of January 7, 2017, at her home in Los Angeles, aged 94.[4]

• 1984: Award of Excellence from Film Advisory Board for RKO: The Biggest Little Major of Them All.[1]
• 1985-86: Honorary trustee of Hollywood Studio Museum and member of honorary committee for De Mille Dynasty Exhibition in Century City, CA.[1]
• 1998-01: Historical Advisor "The Hollywood History Museum" Exhibits, Website, Newsletter and Advisor in Hollywood, CA.
• 2001-16: Member of the Board "George Westmore Research Library & Museum" Exhibits and Advisor in Burbank, CA.

• Betty Lasky at IMDb