[1] He was president of 20th Century Fox from 1976 to 1979, during which he approved the production of Star Wars, on his confidence in George Lucas, which proved well-founded.
[2] He initially stayed with his mother, but lived with his father at his estate in Holmby Hills due to her poor health.
[3] Ladd served in the U.S. Air Force and was called up as a reservist during the Berlin Crisis of 1961,[6] before being employed by his stepfather's business for a brief period.
[9] Ladd made nine films during his sojourn there, including The Walking Stick,[10] A Severed Head,[11] Villain,[10] The Nightcomers, and X Y & Zee.
[2] Ladd came to Fox President Gordon Stulberg to request consideration for making George Lucas's Star Wars.
The production was plagued by location difficulties, story problems, and budgetary disagreements for a project that was mainly considered a risk to the studio.
However, when Ladd saw the audience's rapturous appreciation of the film at its first public screening at the Northpoint Theatre in San Francisco in early May 1977, he was moved to joyful tears at seeing the unlikely production he and Stulberg had supported against all odds culminating in spectacular vindication in their faith in Lucas.
[7] After being unceremoniously dismissed by Credit Lyonnais (who administered MGM after a loan default),[7] he proceeded to reform the Ladd Company with Paramount Pictures in 1993.