Ashley Boone

Ashley Augustus Boone, Jr. (1938–1994) was an American marketing and distribution executive in the film industry.

In 1964, Boone began marketing films, through UA's international brand, where he oversaw releases such as Lilies of the Field (1963), Tom Jones (1963), and multiple James Bond films. Afterwards he had marketing jobs in CBS' film division, Sidney Poitier's production company, and for Motown mogul Berry Gordy, before arriving in 1974 at 20th Century Fox. Boone helped the success of movies such as Best Picture nominee Sounder (1972), wide release pioneer Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), midnight movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and box office hits The Omen (1976) and Alien (1979). He is known for his 1977 campaign to market Star Wars (1977), which became the highest-grossing film of all time upon release.

After the success of Star Wars, Boone was promoted to president of distribution and marketing at Fox becoming the first African American President at a major Hollywood Studio.

In 1993, Boone retired due to pancreatic cancer. He died on May 1, 1994.