John Daly

John Daly (16 July 1937 – 31 October 2008) was a British film producer.

Personal life John Daly was born in South East London, a part of London which was badly bombed and damaged in World War II; his father was a dockworker. He attended St Joseph's Roman Catholic school in Camberwell. He served the Merchant Navy, then sold insurance before founding the Hemdale Film Corporation with David Henmings. The company also acquired the worldwide stage rights for Lionel Bart's musical Oliver!, along with producing Grease in 1973, starring Richard Gere.

Business interests Daly's company Hemdale acquired an ownership interest in a TV company, its own film studios, and an off-track betting company chain of shops.

From 2003, Daly acted as Chairman, CEO and President of Film and Music Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. In May 2008, he took a leave of absence from his executive duties. He remained chairman until his death.

Death John Daly, 71, died on 31 October 2008 of cancer. He was survived by his daughter, Jenny, and three sons, Michael, Julian and Timothy.

Awards On behalf of his companies, Daly achieved 21 Oscar nominations and 13 wins, including consecutive Best Picture wins for Platoon and The Last Emperor (as executive producer, shared with the film's producer Jeremy Thomas), an unequaled achievement in independent filmmaking.

Throughout his forty-year career, Daly won numerous awards at the Golden Globes, the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin International Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards and the Houston Film Festival, along with many other prizes.