Paul Rosenfeld, former Gramercy Pictures’ veteran head of distribution, died Tuesday at his home in Portland, Ore. He was 71.
Rosenfeld was one of the most well-known film buyers in the exhibition industry. He began his career working as a young film booker at Walter Reade theater in New York. 20th Century Fox film executive Bruce Snyder, who met him when Rosenfeld was 21, said, “Despite his seemingly gruff personality, Paul was one of the kindest, most sensitive people I have ever met,” Snyder said.
Rosenfeld left the East Coast when Mann Theaters’ president Larry Gleason hired him as head film buyer. He worked four years at Mann and developed a father-son relationship with producer Ted Mann (“Brubaker”).
Soon after, Rosenfeld became a producer’s rep on director Lawrence Kasdan’s 1983 American comedy-drama “The Big Chill” before returning to Mann in 1986 as head film buyer. He left for Gramercy Pictures in 1992 to assume the role of head of distribution. In 2003, Rosenfeld accepted the head film buyer position at Wallace Theaters and relocated to Portland until he retired.
Rosenfeld was born the eldest of four children to Hope and Dr. Leonard Rosenfeld on September 26, 1948. He had a passion for books, movies, family and friends. “Chances are if you were lucky enough to meet Paul Rosenfeld, you loved Paul Rosenfeld and the loss of such a great and gifted personality is profound,” AMC Theaters veteran film buyer Bob Lenihan said.
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Rosenfeld is survived by his daughter, Jennifer; his siblings Jaclin Elliott and Beth Morris; his mother, Hope and his ex-wife, Marcella.