About Robert Evans
Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930 – October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor who worked on Rosemary's Baby (1968), Love Story (1970), The Godfather (1972), and Chinatown (1974). Evans began his career in a successful business venture with his brother Charles Evans, selling women's apparel. In 1956, while on a business trip, he was by chance spotted by actress Norma Shearer, who thought he would be right to play the role of her late husband Irving Thalberg in Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). Thus he began a brief film acting career. In 1962, Evans went into film producing instead, using his accumulated wealth from the clothing business, and began a meteoric rise in the industry. He was made head of Paramount Pictures in 1967. While there, he improved the ailing Paramount's fortunes through a string of commercially and critically acclaimed films. In 1974, he stepped down to produce films on his own. In 1980, Evans's career, and life, took a downturn after he pled guilty to cocaine trafficking. Over the next 12 years, he produced only two films, both financial flops: The Cotton Club (1984) and the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes (1990). From 1993 onward he produced films on a more regular basis, with a mixed track record that included both flops (such as Jade in 1995) and hits (such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in 2003, his final film credit). The alleged drug dealing, which Evans continued to deny (the misdemeanor was later wiped from his record), came out of his own involvement with the drug. In 1993, he produced films on a more regular basis, with a mixed track record that included both flops (such as Jade in 1995) and hits (such as How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in 2003, his final film credit). In his early years, he did promotional work for Evan-Picone, a fashion company founded by his brother Charles.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.