Gale Anne Hurd (born October 25, 1955) is an American film and television producer, the founder of

Valhalla Entertainment Valhalla Entertainment Productions, Inc. is an American film and television production company. Their productions include AMC's ''The Walking Dead'' television series, its companion series, '' Fear the Walking Dead,'' and the spin-off, '' The ...

(formerly Pacific Western Productions), and a former recording secretary for the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

Early life

Hurd was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Lolita (née Espiau) and Frank E. Hurd, an investor. Her father was Jewish, and her mother was

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. She grew up in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by lan ...

and graduated from Palm Springs High School in 1973. She graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

with a BA in economics and

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

, and a minor in political science, in 1977.

Film career

She joined

New World Pictures New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 19 ...

as executive assistant to

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

, the company president. She worked her way up through various administrative positions and eventually became involved in production. She formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions, in 1982 and went on to produce a number of box-office hits including the

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post- New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability ...

films ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton), wh ...

'' (1984, the screenplay for which she co-wrote with Cameron, her sole screenwriting credit), ''

Aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' (1986), and ''

The Abyss ''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery tea ...

'' (1989). GaleAnneHurdWalkingDeadcastHWOFOct2012

In 1998, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. In 2003, she was awarded the Telluride Tech Festival Award of Technology at

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The firs ...

, along with

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

. In 2010, the drama series she produced, '' The Walking Dead'', began airing on AMC. Hurd became a governor of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

in 2011.

On October 3, 2012, she was awarded a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

. In 2013, Hurd was awarded the Laura Ziskin Lifetime Achievement Award from the Athena Film Festival, at

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

in New York City. The award honors her as a woman in the film industry whose leadership demonstrates vision and courage and sets a standard for other women to emulate. Hurd was awarded the

Fangoria ''Fangoria'' is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr. The magazine was originally released ...

Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for her body of work in the horror and science fiction genres.

Personal life

Hurd was married to

from 1985 to 1989; to director

Brian De Palma Brian Russell De Palma (born September 11, 1940) is an American film director and screenwriter. With a career spanning over 50 years, he is best known for his work in the suspense, crime and psychological thriller genres. De Palma was a leading ...

from 1991 to 1993, with whom she had one daughter, Lolita de Palma, in 1991; and to screenwriter/director Jonathan Hensleigh since 1995.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Official Twitter page

Official company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurd, Gale Anne 1955 births 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American women writers Film producers from California American people of Jewish descent Screenwriters from California Television producers from California American women television producers American women screenwriters Living people Stanford University alumni American women film producers Writers from Los Angeles 21st-century American women