By Stone Martindale Mar 27, 2007, 21:56 GMT
Jack Valenti, Hollywood's top official in Washington for 38 years before retiring in 2004, is making progress at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after suffering a stroke last week, reports Reuters.
Jack Valenti REUTERS/Fred Prouser
A Texan, Valenti, 85, joined the Motion Picture Assn. of America in 1966 after serving as a senior aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Valenti served as head of the MPAA until his retirement in 2004, when he was succeeded by Dan Glickman.
Since leaving the MPAA, Valenti has been working on behalf of world health issues and consulting the entertainment industry on teaching parents how to block objectionable TV shows. Valenti is the father of Hollywood's movie ratings system. He also has been working on his memoirs.
In a statement issued today through Warner Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer, Valenti's wife, Mary Margaret, and his children expressed "their deep appreciation of the outpouring of love, support and prayers."
Valenti, according to Reuters, was prepping a book tour for, "This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood," which is due out in June.
Valenti, whose background was initially in advertising, also was aboard Air Force One by Johnson's side when he was sworn in after Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, reported Reuters.
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