Mark Seiler, Former Studio Exec and Longtime Partner of Morgan Fairchild, Dies at 75
Mark Seiler, a former studio executive and the longtime fiancee of actress Morgan Fairchild, died July 7 from a heart attack. He was 75
At the time of his death, en route to a hospital in Burbank, Seiler had been battling Parkinson’s disease and was currently suffering his third COVID-19 infection, his family said in a statement on Aug. 1.
Born May 2, 1948 in Glen Cove New York, Seiler was raised on Long Island and later graduated from Tulane University with a BS in Economics.
‘s roles in Hollywood included serving as president of RKO Pictures, the successor to the original studio founded in the late 1970s, president of Hemdale Films, and the CEO of 90s production powerhouse Capella Films.
While at Hemdale, films overseen by Seiler include “Carbon Copy” (1981), the screen debut of Denzel Washington.
At RKO he oversaw the production of films including “Plenty” (1985), starring Meryl Streep, “Half Moon Street” (1986), starring Sigourney Weaver, the Vietnam war film “Hamburger Hill,” on which Seiler personally selected a cast that included Don Cheadle and Courtney B. Vance in early prominent roles.
It was on another RKO movie, “Campus Man,” where he first met Fairchild in 1986.
At Capella, Seiler produced or secured financing for 90s touchstones including “The Shadow” starring Alec Baldwin, “Nobody’s Fool” starring Paul Newman, both in 1994, and “How to Love a Guy in 10 Days” (2003).
“He was such an influence on me in my early days in Hollywood – he saw things in me that I’m not sure I saw in myself. He guided me with his wisdom and instilled a confidence in me and a strong sense of self. I will forever be grateful to him for his mentorship and friendship during those early years,” actor Mark Platt said about Seiler.
“He gave me that shot to go from law to creative on faith. I hope he always knew how grateful I was for changing my life – taking me to RKO,” Jerry Offsay, former president of programming at Showtime and owner of Parkchester Pictures, said.
Seiler was also involved in early efforts to combat digital piracy.
“Mark came up with a very creative and innovative technical approach to prevent piracy and enforce privacy and security for digital media. Certainly, his idea was pioneering and ahead of its time. He recruited a world-class team of experts to join him to develop this technology and also recruited investors to support the effort. Geocodex’s invention was basically to bring together the state of the art in geo-location technology and in cryptology,” Seiler’s business partner, Barry Glick said.
Also known as an animal lover, Seiler is survived by Fairchild, his longtime partner and fiancee, and his family, Carolyn Seiler Hehir and her husband, Greg Hehir, and his siblings Amy Seiler and Scott Seiler.
A memorial is set for early December; Seiler’s family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research at michaeljfox.org.
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