In 1947, he left Warners to open his own public relations office, and in 1956 he formed The Arthur P. Jacobs Co., Inc.

[4] According to Trundy, Jacobs stated, "I will never in my lifetime make a film that cannot be seen by the whole family" and gave the rights to Midnight Cowboy to his associate, Jerome Hellman, for no fee, saying, "I will not have my name on it".

[6] But on June 27, 1973, during production of the second film, Huckleberry Finn, Jacobs died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 51.

He had just made a pilot for a TV series, Topper Returns, starring Roddy McDowall, Stefanie Powers and John Randolph; was the Executive Producer of a Planet of the Apes TV series; and was developing a full-length science fiction feature called Voyage of the Oceanauts.

Trundy, who was filming Huckleberry Finn on location at the time of her husband's death, assumed control of APJAC Productions, and sold all rights and financial participation in the Planet of the Apes franchise to Fox, choosing to concentrate on other projects.