Sybil Ann Robson Orr (born 1962) is an American film producer. She is a niece of

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

founder

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's ...

and

Helen Walton Helen Robson Walton (December 3, 1919 – April 19, 2007) was an American philanthropist and prominent arts advocate, dedicated to her community in Bentonville, Arkansas where she instituted a committee for a national museum of arts. After 31 yea ...

, and the founder of Robson Orr Entertainment.

Early life and career

Sybil Robson Orr was born in 1962 in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

, the daughter of Alma (née White) and Nick Robson. Her mother was a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

and her father was the son of a prosperous Oklahoma rancher. Together with his brother Frank Robson and brothers-in-law Sam and

Bud Walton James Lawrence "Bud" Walton (December 20, 1921 – March 21, 1995) was the brother of Sam Walton and co-founder of Walmart. Biography Early life Walton was born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy "Nannie" Lee Lawrence Walton on December 20, 19 ...

, he expanded

as a franchise operation across the country. Robson Orr graduated from Tulsa's

Memorial High School Memorial High School may refer to: United States As ''Memorial High School'' alone * Memorial High School (Millville, New Jersey) *Memorial High School (West New York, New Jersey) * Memorial High School (St. Marys, Ohio) *Memorial High School (Tu ...

, and went on to earn a BA from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

. She then began her career as a news reporter and television anchor at news 2, Winston Salem NC, the United States. She briefly cohosted a syndicated tabloid television show before transitioning to

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

in Paris. She then launched a nationally syndicated consumer program for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. Following this, she partnered with producer

Harvey Bernhard Harvey Bernhard (March 5, 1924 – January 16, 2014) was an American film producer. He frequently collaborated with film director Richard Donner, notably ''The Omen'' (1976), ''The Goonies'' (1985) and ''The Lost Boys'' (1987) Early life and ed ...

to create "Robson/Bernhard Entertainment" for

Universal Pictures 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 Americ ...

. Before and during the partnership, she wrote and produced documentaries based in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on

socio-economic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

issues. In 1993, she founded her own production company, Robson Entertainment (now Robson Orr Entertainment), which has offices in

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

and London. She produced the 1995 family

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film ''

Gordy ''Gordy'' is a 1994 American family comedy-drama film directed by Mark Lewis, about a livestock piglet named Gordy who searches for his missing family (who are taken away to a slaughterhouse in Omaha, Nebraska). He experiences the lives of other ...

'' and the 2001 dramedy film ''

Seven and a Match ''Seven and a Match'' is a 2001 independent film directed and written by Derek Simonds. It was released in the United States on April 21, 2003. Cast *Eion Bailey as Sid *Heather Donahue as Wit * Devon Gummersall as Matthew *Tina Holmes as Ellie ...

''. She then produced the 2006 documentary ''

Blindsight Blindsight is the ability of people who are cortically blind to respond to visual stimuli that they do not consciously see due to lesions in the primary visual cortex, also known as the striate cortex or Brodmann Area 17. The term was coined by ...

'', which was directed by Lucy Walker and has received critical acclaim. As of February 3, 2013, it holds a 98% "Fresh" rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on 49 reviews.

Personal life

Robson Orr has two brothers, Bruce and Joe. She also has an older half-brother, Ed Lee, from her mother's first marriage. She is a first cousin of

Alice Walton Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is an American heiress to the fortune of Walmart. In September 2016, she owned over in Walmart shares. As of October 2022, Walton has a net worth of $59 billion, making her the 19th-richest person, and ...

S. Robson Walton Samuel Robson “Rob” Walton (born October 28, 1944) is an American billionaire heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. He is the eldest son of Helen Walton and Sam Walton, and was chairman of Walmart from 1992 to 2015. ...

, and

Jim Walton James Carr Walton (born June 7, 1948) is an American businessman, currently the heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. As of October 2022, Walton was the seventeenth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$61 b ...

. With Alice Walton and other

Walton family The Walton family is an American family whose collective fortune derived from Walmart makes them the richest family in the United States of America. Overview The three most prominent living members ( Jim, Rob, and Alice Walton) have consis ...

members, she owns a stake in Robson Ranch Inc., an Oklahoma ranch encompassing which produces wheat, soybeans, and corn. She is married to British financier Matthew Orr.

Filmography

*''

'' (1995) – producer *''

'' (2001) – executive producer *''

'' (2006) – executive producer *''First in Flight'' (2012) – executive producer *''

Rules Don't Apply ''Rules Don't Apply'' is a 2016 American romantic comedy-drama film written, produced and directed by Warren Beatty. It is loosely based on the life of businessman and film producer Howard Hughes. The ensemble cast features Beatty, in his first sc ...

'' (2016) - producer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, Sybil Robson Living people People from Rogers County, Oklahoma People from Wagoner County, Oklahoma Southern Methodist University alumni Walton family Film producers from Oklahoma 1957 births