Lester Persky, 76; Veteran Movie, TV Miniseries Producer

Lester Persky, who produced such movies as “Equus,” “Hair” and “Yanks,” and was executive producer of Emmy Award-winning TV miniseries such as “A Woman Named Jackie,” has died. He was 76.

He died Sunday at UCLA Medical Center from complications following heart surgery, said Tomlinson Dean, vice president of Persky’s production company.

“He loved this business,” Dean said. “He enjoyed every aspect of it. I worked with him about 30 years and I saw him get involved in everything--from the costumes to the makeup. Nothing got by him; he was meticulous.”

The son of a New York City businessman, Persky earned a bachelor’s degree at Brooklyn College. He served in the merchant marine from 1945 to 1948 and then worked as a publicist and advertising writer before establishing his own advertising agency in New York in 1953.

After a decade in advertising, Persky became a theatrical producer. He produced, among others, Tennessee Williams’ “Slapstick Tragedy” on Broadway.

In 1973, Persky co-founded a film financing company with Richard S. Bright. The Persky-Bright Organization was responsible for helping bring at least 28 major films to the screen, including “The Last Detail,” “Shampoo,” “Taxi Driver,” “The Front,” “The Man Who Would Be King” and “The Missouri Breaks.”

In 1977, he formed Lester Persky Productions to produce feature films and television movies and miniseries.

He personally produced the Oscar-nominated “Equus,” starring Richard Burton and directed by Sidney Lumet; the film musical “Hair,” directed by Milos Forman; and “Yanks,” co-starring Richard Gere and Vanessa Redgrave and directed by John Schlesinger.

In 1986, Persky turned to long-form television. He developed and executive produced the NBC miniseries “Poor Little Rich Girl,” starring Farrah Fawcett as Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. It won the 1988 Golden Globe Award for best miniseries or motion picture for television, as well as three Emmys.

Persky followed that with “A Woman Named Jackie,” an NBC miniseries starring Roma Downey as Jackie Kennedy Onassis that won an Emmy for best miniseries in 1992.

In 1995, he was executive producer of “Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story,” another miniseries for NBC.

Persky is survived by three nieces.

A memorial service will be held at 11:45 a.m. Thursday at Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York City. A Los Angeles memorial service is planned for January.

Memorial donations may be made to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, 1399 S. Roxbury Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90035.