Kathleen Kennedy (producer)

Kennedy was born in Berkeley, California, to Dione Marie "Dede" (née Dousseau), a one-time theater actress, and Donald R. Kennedy, a judge and attorney.[8] She has two sisters. Her twin sister, Connie, formerly a location manager in British Columbia, Canada, is now the executive producer of the Virtual Production company Profile Studios.[9] Her other sister is Dana Middleton-Silberstein, a television host and anchor, and press secretary/communications director for former Governor Gary Locke (D-WA).[8]

Kennedy graduated from Shasta High School in Redding, California, in 1971. She continued her education at San Diego State University where she majored in telecommunications and film. In her final year, Kennedy gained employment at a local San Diego TV station, KCST (now KNSD), taking on various roles including camera operator, video editor, floor director and finally as KCST news production coordinator.[10]

After her employment with KCST, she produced a local talk show entitled You're On for the station for four years before moving to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, Kennedy secured her first film production job working as an assistant to John Milius, who at the time was executive producer of Spielberg's 1941 (1979).

During the production of 1941, while working for screenwriter John Milius, Kennedy came to the attention of Steven Spielberg, who hired Kennedy as his assistant.[11] Both Spielberg and Kennedy agree she was a terrible typist who was kept on only because of her good production ideas. Kennedy was credited as associate to Spielberg on Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), then associate producer on Spielberg's production of Tobe Hooper's Poltergeist (1982).[12]

Kathleen Kennedy during the Paris premiere of The Adventures of Tintin on October 22, 2011.

She began receiving producer credit with Spielberg on the major box-office hit E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and continued serving the role on most of his films for the next three decades. In 1981, she helped co-found and run the production company Amblin Entertainment with Spielberg and her future husband Frank Marshall.[12] She also produced Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) with George Lucas and Frank Marshall, and appeared in the film's opening sequence as a dancer.[13] Following her work on the Indiana Jones films, she rose to become one of Hollywood's leading producers. With Amblin, she produced the Back to the Future trilogy, collaborating with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Robert Zemeckis, Barry Levinson, and Clint Eastwood. She took over a large portion of running of Amblin and served as its president until 1991, when she and Marshall formed The Kennedy/Marshall Company[14] with a deal at DreamWorks. She continued her business relationship with Spielberg and became producer for Jurassic Park (1993) and executive producer for the historical drama Schindler's List (also 1993).[12]

During the 1980s and 1990s, Kennedy served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute and in 1991 was a "Grimmy Award" recipient in recognition for her outstanding support of student film making. Kennedy was also an Honorary Chairperson of the institute.[15][16] In 1995, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.[17] In 1996, she received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented alongside Frank Marshall by Awards Council member George Lucas.[18] In 2007, she was the first recipient of Women in Film's Paltrow Mentorship Award, for showing extraordinary commitment to mentoring and supporting the next generation of filmmakers and executives.[19]

Kennedy was a producer on Spielberg's films: War of the Worlds and Munich (both 2005), the latter of which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Marshall and Kennedy were producers for the US versions of two Studio Ghibli animated features Ponyo (2009) and The Secret World of Arrietty (2012).[20][21] She also produced Spielberg's Lincoln (2012), which was nominated for seven Golden Globes and twelve Academy Awards.

In May 2012, she stepped down from Kennedy/Marshall, leaving Marshall as sole principal of their film company.[22][23] In the following month, Kennedy became co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd. alongside George Lucas.[24][25] When Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, Kennedy was promoted to president.[26] In 2018, Kennedy's contract to remain president of Lucasfilm was extended another three years, through 2021.[27] For the 2001–02 period, she was co-president (with Tim Gibbons) of the Producers Guild of America.[28]

In 2019, she was appointed an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to film production in the United Kingdom.[29] In that same year, it was announced that she would receive the BAFTA Fellowship in 2020.[30]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kathleen Kennedy.

• Kathleen Kennedy at IMDb