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Kate Guinzburg, Producing Partner of Michelle Pfeiffer, Dies at 60
They teamed on such films as 'Love Field,' 'Dangerous Minds' and 'One Fine Day' in the 1990s.
Kate Guinzburg, who spent a decade as actress Michelle Pfeiffer's partner in Via Rosa Productions, has died. She was 60.
Guinzburg died Sunday at her home in Los Angeles after a long battle with ovarian cancer, her family announced.
Guinzburg was serving as a production coordinator on Sweet Liberty (1986) when she met Pfeiffer, who was starring in the film opposite Alan Alda. They launched Via Rosa (originally Pfeiffer-Guinzburg Productions) in 1990 and signed a deal with Columbia and then Disney, and their first feature, Love Field (1992), earned Pfeiffer an Oscar nomination for best actress.
The company went on to produce other Pfeiffer-starring efforts like Dangerous Minds (1995) — its biggest box-office success by far — One Fine Day (1996), A Thousand Acres (1997) and The Deep End of the Ocean (1999), as well as Original Sin (2001) and Carolina (2003), before disbanding.
Most of Via Rosa's projects revolved around strong women, relationships and families.
"No victims," Guinzburg told Los Angeles magazine in 1997. "If I had more time, I would really relish developing. I love the creative elements of making something out of nothing and, obviously, the filming. And I love post, too. I love editing — that's really fun. I love all of it."
Guinzburg was reportedly among the friends who set up Pfeiffer on a blind date with writer-producer David E. Kelley. They would marry in 1993.
Born in New York City on July 6, 1957, Guinzburg started out as a production coordinator on Eddie Macon's Run (1983). She also worked in that capacity on Easy Money (1983), Moscow on the Hudson (1984) and Ghostbusters (1984).
Her father, Tom Guinzburg, co-founder of the Paris Review and president of Viking Press, the publishing house founded by his dad, died in September 2010. Her mother, actress Rita Gam (Klute), who was a bridesmaid at Grace Kelly's wedding to Prince Rainier, died in March 2016.
Survivors include her daughters Olivia, a talent coordinator at CAA, and Louisa, a senior at Bennington College, and her brother, novelist Michael Guinzburg.
Private services are pending.
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