[6] Lansing briefly dabbled in acting, appearing as Susan in the 1970 rom-com “Loving,” starring Eva-Marie Saint and George Segal, and co-starring Sterling Hayden.

Also in 1970, Lansing played Amelita in Academy Award Winning Director Howard Hawks’ last film “Rio Lobo,” starring John Wayne, and co-starring Jorge Rivero and Jennifer O’Neill.

Her work at Columbia Pictures eventually led to an appointment with 20th Century Fox in 1980, at age 35, as the first female production president of a major studio.

[8][9][10] She resigned in December 1982 and became a partner with Stanley R. Jaffe (with whom she shares a birthday) to form Jaffe-Lansing Productions based at Paramount Pictures.

[9] The company released a consistent string of minor hits through Paramount before achieving box-office success with Fatal Attraction in 1987, for which Jaffe and Lansing received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture the following year.

Under Lansing, the studio produced such hits as Forrest Gump, Braveheart, and what was, at the time, history's highest-grossing film – Titanic (the latter two during a partnership with 20th Century Fox).

[9][12][13] Viacom (which purchased Paramount in 1994) split the company into two parts in 2004 and Lansing stepped down at the end of that year after an almost unprecedented twelve-year tenure atop Hollywood's legendary "Best Show in Town.

[15] In 2005, she created the Sherry Lansing Foundation, which is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for cancer research, K-12 public education, and encore career opportunities.

[16] In 2011, Lansing pledged $5 million to University of Chicago Laboratory Schools to build a new arts wing, including a 250-seat performance venue.