David Pique, a prominent Hollywood film executive best known for filming iconic films like "Hard Day's Night" and "The Bastards" and launching the James Bond series of films, died of complications from colon cancer at his home in New York. He died on December 31, 2012 at the age of 8
For more than 40 years, Pique has been an executive producer and has served as president and CEO of United Artists, Paramount, Lorimar and Columbia Pictures. Many of Hollywood's top stars today have worked as assistants for him, including Tom Rossman, Mark Gordon, Larry Mark, Bonnie Arnold, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Larry Kramer, and Jonathan Demy.
Pique was born in New York City on May 14, 1931. His legendary and successful film career began in 1956, when he worked in advertising and publicity at United Artists. He was soon promoted to assistant to the president and then managed United Records. He would bring the film Tom Jones to the company in 1963. It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
In 1970, he became CEO of United Artists Corporation. It was then that he struck an agreement with Harry Salzman and Albert Broccoli on the James Bond series — which would be one of the most successful franchises in history. He also signed a three-photo deal with the Beatles and helped oversee the release and help of Hard Day's Night! He also brought iconic films such as Midnight Cowboy and Final Tango as a joint artist in Paris, and brought woody Allen's company. He also brought acclaimed European filmmakers such as Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, François Trufart, Luis Marr and Sergio Leon to the hands of co-artists.
After leaving United Artists, Pique would continue to begin production of two road movies in 1973 that would produce films like Oscar-nominated Lenny and Big Man. He will then serve as president of Paramount Pictures, where he brought more iconic titles to Hollywood, including Saturday Night Fever, Grease and The Ordinary Man, four Oscar-winning films.
He left Paramount's position to work with Steve Martin, earning numerous titles in the 80s that would become classics, including bastards, dead people without plaid tweeds and people with two brains. He also served as president of feature films at Lorimar Productions and Columbia Pictures. He added a number of films to his resume, including "There", "School Confused", "Witty Words" and "True Believers".
He continued to work and produce in the 80s and 90s, working independently and in studios. He collaborated with Harry Belafonte on Beat Street and produced Stella, starring Betty Midler. His other studio credits include Saints of Fort Washington (1993) and Crucible (1996).
Pique's legacy will continue as he became president of iconic entertainment shows around the world in 1997. From 2004 to 2008, he was also President of the Producers Guild of the Eastern United States. In 2008, he was awarded the Charles Fitzsimmons Award by the PGA. He also wrote a memoir about his career in film titled Musts, Maybes and Nevers, published in 2013. The book looks back at his career in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, when he ran the four film companies mentioned above.