Lorenzo Soria, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globe Awards, died Friday at his home in Los Angeles, a member of his family told the HFPA. He was 68.
“Lorenzo was a beloved member of the entertainment industry and the Hollywood community and will be sorely missed,” the HFPA said in a statement. A cause of death was not revealed.
Soria was most recently elected president in 2019, and was half-way through his three-year term.
Born in Argentina, Soria moved to Italy at a young age. He started out as a journalist for Italian newsweekly L’Espresso and has been working for Italian newspaper La Stampa since 1988. He joined the HFPA in 1989 and has served as president two previous terms before the present one. Soria also served as chairman of the HFPA’s board.
Since 1982, Soria lived in Los Angeles, covering politics, technology, and society. He also wrote extensively about Hollywood talent and the entertainment business. In his role running the HFPA, Soria would often appear on the Globes broadcast, welcoming guests, and was a fixture at the early-morning nominations announcements. In recent years, the Globes have become a ratings hit, beloved by viewers for being a looser, more tongue-in-cheek celebration of movies and television.
During Soria’s current term as president, the Globes attracted controversy by nominating exclusively male directors. “What happened is that we don’t vote by gender. We vote by film and accomplishment,” Soria told Variety’s Marc Malkin at the Globes announcement. However, the awards show also made history, becoming one of the first major entertainment industry gatherings to serve a plant-based menu in 2020.
Sproa wrote stories for La Stampa in July about a range of subjects including Ennio Morricone, Ringo Star and Tom Hanks.