AceShowbiz - James G. Robinson, the influential producer and co-founder of Morgan Creek Productions, passed away on February 15 at the age of 90, his family confirmed. Robinson was the driving force behind iconic films including Major League, Dead Ringers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, True Romance, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Before entering the film industry, Robinson amassed considerable wealth through the automobile import business. In 1988, he partnered with producer Joe Roth to launch Morgan Creek Productions. To finance the venture, Robinson invested $80 million of his own funds, complemented by a $126 million line of credit from Signet Bank-Maryland.

In response to the collapse of independent studios such as Cannon Group, New World Entertainment, and De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, the founders of Morgan Creek decided not to handle film distribution themselves. Instead, they financed production entirely, covered advertising expenses, and presold foreign video and television rights, leaving theatrical distribution in the hands of others.

The company’s first major success arrived with Young Guns (1988), a Western about the early life of Billy the Kid. Directed by Christopher Cain and distributed by Fox, the film featured Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Dermot Mulroney. Produced on an $11 million budget—remarkably filmed as a nonunion production—it grossed $45 million at the box office.

Robinson was born in Baltimore on December 16, 1935, the son of a professional golfer. His family moved to Dundalk, Maryland when he was five, where he later attended Dundalk High School and then the University of Maryland, College Park.

After serving in the U.S. Army in Germany, Robinson returned to Baltimore in 1963. An unusual incident involving a used car imported with a stubborn protective coating led him to acquire a local cleaning business specializing in automobile import services. This venture expanded as demand grew for additional services like undercoating and sunroof retrofits.

In the mid-1970s, Robinson purchased a failing Subaru distributorship and transformed it into Subaru Mid-America Inc., based in Chicago. The company supplied Subaru cars and parts to 94 dealerships across the Midwest, marking a significant chapter in his automotive career.

Robinson entered the Hollywood scene in the late 1970s by providing bridge financing for independent films. He explained to The Hollywood Reporter in 2007, “There were people out there who had deals with the studios but didn't have any immediate financing, and I would finance [their films]. I didn't come walking into town and say, 'I want to be in this business.'”

His first executive producer credit came with The Stone Boy (1984), directed by Christopher Cain and starring Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, and Frederic Forrest. This family drama marked his initial foray into film production.

Marvin Riesenbach, an automotive industry colleague, described Robinson in a 1991 Baltimore Sun profile as “a risk-taker, but an intelligent one who takes calculated risks, most of which have paid off.”

Throughout the 1980s, Robinson invested in several films including the 1985 comedies Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Grunt! The Wrestling Movie. In 1986, he reunited with Roth to produce the adventure film Where the River Runs Black, also directed by Cain.

The name Morgan Creek was inspired by the 1943 Preston Sturges comedy The Miracle of Morgan's Creek. Robinson told the Baltimore Sun in 1999, “We wanted an American name. Something that was very American and something that involved a well-known American director. 'Morgan Creek' is as American as you can get. ... You never hear the word 'creek' anywhere else in the world.”

After Roth left Morgan Creek in 1989 to become chairman of 20th Century Fox, Robinson continued to drive the company’s success with a string of popular and critically acclaimed films. These included the baseball comedy Major League (1989) starring Charlie Sheen; David Cronenberg’s psychological thriller Dead Ringers (1988) with Jeremy Irons; the adventure epic Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) featuring Kevin Costner; the Quentin Tarantino-penned True Romance (1993); and the breakthrough comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), which catapulted Jim Carrey to stardom.

In 1996, Robinson earned the ShoWest Producer of the Year award, solidifying his reputation in the industry.

Discussing his approach to selecting projects in 2007, Robinson told The Hollywood Reporter, “There's a lot of things for me that go into choosing a movie. From the top: Is it a good script? Because if it's not a good script, why don't we just stop right here? I sit down with a lot of people. I don't isolate myself in a vacuum. There is no simplistic formula. Let's just say I think we'll do fine around the world. OK, now can we cast it? Can we get the right director? Is the budget the right budget for this film? Everything is fluid. It's story, director, cast.”

Morgan Creek also earned critical recognition with the Paul Mazursky-directed Enemies, A Love Story (1989), which garnered three Academy Award nominations. Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans (1992), starring Daniel Day-Lewis, won an Oscar for Best Sound.

Maximizing franchise potential was a hallmark of Robinson’s strategy. He produced sequels to Young Guns, Major League, and Ace Ventura. In 1990, Morgan Creek revived the horror franchise with The Exorcist III, followed by three more films and a Fox television reboot of the series.

Other notable films overseen by Robinson included Skin Deep (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), Freejack (1992), White Sands (1992), Diabolique (1996), Soldier (1998), American Outlaws (2001), The Good Shepherd (2006), and Georgia Rule (2007). The latter project was notable for a public dispute with Lindsay Lohan, whom Robinson described in a letter as a “spoiled child” who “endangered the quality of this picture.”

In 2014, Morgan Creek sold international distribution rights and copyrights to its film library to Revolution Studios, founded by Joe Roth, for $36.75 million.

Robinson is survived by his wife of 61 years, Barbara, their six children Michael, Patrick, Brian, David, Thomas, and Beth, and eight grandchildren: Blake, Meghan, Kaitlin, Aidan, Cali, Campbell, David Cameron, and David Henry.

His son David, married to actress Susan Ward, followed in his footsteps becoming a producer and eventually president of Morgan Creek Entertainment Group.

Though Morgan Creek's headquarters were located in Los Angeles, Robinson maintained a strong connection to his Baltimore roots. He raised his family in Lutherville, just north of the city, and frequently operated from offices in his hometown rather than Hollywood.

Reflecting on his loyalty to Baltimore, Robinson once said, “I love Baltimore. I'd make all my movies here if I could. It all comes down to a matter of cost. If it was close, maybe a difference of a million between filming here and somewhere else, I would always choose Baltimore.”