G. Clark Ramsay (1915–November 29, 1977) was an American film executive. He served in various positions at

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

from 1958 until 1972, being vice president of production from 1967 to 1969 and vice president of administration from 1969 to 1972. He then became vice president of advertising at

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...

, where his advertising campaign for ''

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'' was credited as an integral aspect of the film's commercial success.

Early life

Ramsay was born in 1915. He attended Fremont High School in

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...

, graduating in 1933. He joined

Universal Studios Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

in 1940 and was promoted to advertising manager the following year, serving in that role until 1946.

Career

After his work with Universal, Ramsay became vice president of the Monroe Greenthal Company, which handled advertising for several film companies. In 1952, he returned to Universal as executive assistant to vice president of advertising David Lipton. Ramsay had an advertising background, working for Universal International and MGM, which he joined in 1958. He became assistant to MGM studio president Robert O'Brien in April 1963. When

Robert M. Weitman Robert M. Weitman (1905–1989) was an American film, TV and theatre producer and studio executive. For a number of years he was a leading executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, being head of production during a successful period in the 1960s under pr ...

resigned as head of production in 1967, Ramsay took over. While at MGM, he attempted to make a film version of ''Tai Pan''. In 1969, Ramsay became a vice president of administration for MGM. He stayed in this position until late 1972, when he resigned from the studio and joined Universal the following year as a vice president in charge of advertising. His publicity work played a role in making ''

'' a commercial success, starting an advertising campaign two years prior to the film's release. In 1976 he became a vice president of MCA and stayed there until his death.

Personal life, death, and legacy

Ramsay had two children: a daughter, Christine Gaynor, and a son, Todd Ramsay. He died of cancer in 1977 at the age of 62, survived by his children and wife, Margaret. His legacy in the world of film marketing was felt for several years after, with the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

holding a seminar in his memory in 1982.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsay, Clark American film studio executives 1915 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople