Irving Berlin got it right when he wrote … “There’s no business like show business.” And that's exactly the business that William "Bill" O'Hare got into.

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His career started in the mid 1950’s with Distributors Corporation of America (DCA), where he promoted their eclectic collection of movies ranging from John Van Druten’s I Am A Camera, starring Julie Harris, to Rodan: The Flying Monster.

 

In the late 50’s, he moved to Continental Distributors as Director of Advertising and Publicity. Continental (a Walter Reade Company) had a monopoly on the fine British films of that era, including Room at the Top, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning, A Taste of Honey and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

 

In 1963, O'Hare landed his dream job at MGM as Advertising Director, and was the driving force behind such classic marketing campaigns as David Lean’s Doctor Zhivago, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the 1967 re-release of Gone With The Wind.  This period at MGM was known as the Robert O’Brien regime and MGM was kicking out other classics like Viva Las Vegas, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and The Dirty Dozen.

 

In 1968, CBS founder William S. Paley formed Cinema Center Films (CCF), a movie company to compete with the other big studios. CCF had multiple picture deals with movie stars such as John Wayne, Steve McQueen, Lee Marvin, Jack Lemmon, Doris Day and Dustin Hoffman.  Even Charlie Brown and the Gang had a two-picture deal.  CCF lasted just five years, but the company produced over 35 movies.  As Vice President of Worldwide Advertising, Publicity and Promotion, Bill O’Hare was responsible for marketing these stars and their films.

 

O'Hare later joined Paramount Pictures as World Wide Director of Public Relations in the mid 70s. While there, he worked with producer, Stanley Jaffe, on promoting big hits like The Bad News Bears, starring Walter Matthau, as well as the critically acclaimed, Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. O'Hare also helped promote Burt Reynolds’ directorial debut for the movie, Gator.  

 

In 1977, O'Hare was hired by Norman Levy at Columbia Pictures as Director of New York Advertising, Publicity and Promotion, fostering such blockbusters as The Deep and Close Encounters of The Third Kind.  

 

After leaving Columbia Pictures in 1981, O'Hare ventured into producing and started his own company, O'Hare & Associates. At one point, he, along with his good friend, Pete Shapiro, acquired the rights to Rod Thorp’s novel, Nothing Lasts Forever - the thriller that launched the Die Hard series. However, due to unforeseen obstacles, they eventually had to let the option expire. 

 

Retired since the mid 80s, O'Hare now recollects his illustrious, 30-year career in the movie industry in his memoir, Movie Magic.  To have witnessed firsthand the lives of iconic movie personalities who have influenced millions around the globe was thrilling for him, and an experience he enthusiastically shares in the book.