Former Disney Executive Helene Hahn Loyd Passes Away at Age 78

Former Disney executive VP and an early executive at DreamWorks SKG, Helene Hahn Loyd, has passed away at the age of 78.

The Hollywood Reporter shared the news that former Disney executive VP Helene Hahn Loyd had passed away at the age of 78. She died peacefully in her sleep on October 24 in Park City, Utah.

Loyd was born in Westbury, New York and graduated from Hofstra University in 1970. After college, she moved to Los Angeles and temporarily worked at Paramount Pictures while attending Loyola Law School. Things went full circle when Loyd rejoined Paramount in 1977 and became Senior VP. Then, she was named an executive VP at The Walt Disney Studios in 1981, becoming one of the highest-ranking women in the film business. She worked closely alongside Jeffrey Katzenberg, becoming a key figure in the Disney Renaissance in the 1990s, as well as the company's relationship with Pixar.

Katzenberg then recruited Loyd as one of the first executives to help build DreamWorks SKG in 1994, which was founded by Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. There, Loyd worked her way up to COO. Loyd served as a mentor to many female executives throughout her illustrious career.

Loyd retired from DreamWorks in 2004 and moved to Park City to pursue her passion of skiing. Her husband of more than two decades, Charles “Chuck” Loyd Jr., died in July. The family asks that any donations in their memory are made to U.S. Ski & Snowboard, honoring their love of skiing and commitment to supporting the next generation of athletes.