Jack Valenti
Born Jack Joseph Valenti
September 5, 1921
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Died April 26, 2007 (aged 85)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Alma mater University of Houston (BBA)
Harvard University (MBA)
Occupation President of the MPAA,
Special Assistant to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson
Spouse(s) Mary Margaret Wiley (m. 1962)
Children 3
Jack Joseph Valenti (September 5, 1921 – April 26, 2007) was a longtime president of the Motion Picture Association of America. During his 38-year tenure in the MPAA, he created the MPAA film rating system, and he was generally regarded as one of the most influential pro-copyright lobbyists in the world.
Early life
Valenti was born on September 5, 1921 in Houston, Texas, the son of Italian immigrants.
In 1952, he and a partner named Weldon Weekley founded Weekley & Valenti, an advertising agency, with oil company, Conoco, as its first client. In 1956, Valenti met then Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson. Weekley & Valenti branched out into political consulting and added Representative Albert Thomas, a Johnson ally, as a client. In 1960, Valenti's firm assisted in the Kennedy-Johnson presidential campaign.
Political career
Valenti served as liaison with the news media during President John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson's November 22, 1963 visit to Dallas, Texas, and Valenti was in the presidential motorcade. Following the assassination of President Kennedy, Valenti was present in the famous photograph of Lyndon Johnson's swearing-in aboard Air Force One, and flew with the new president to Washington. He then became the first "special assistant" to Johnson's White House and lived in the White House for the first two months of Johnson's presidency. In 1964, Johnson gave Valenti the responsibility to handle relations with the Republican Congressional leadership, particularly Gerald Ford and Charles Halleck from the House of Representatives, and the Senate's Everett Dirksen.
Valenti later called Johnson "the most single dominating human being that I've ever been in contact with" and "the single most intelligent man I've ever known". In a speech before the American Advertising Federation in 1965, Valenti said: "I sleep each night a little better, a little more confidently, because Lyndon Johnson is my president."
Valenti later attacked film director Oliver Stone for the 1991 movie JFK. Valenti called the movie a "monstrous charade" and said, "I owe where I am today to Lyndon Johnson. I could not live with myself if I stood by mutely and let some filmmaker soil his memory."
Career in the MPAA
In 1966, Valenti, at the insistence of Universal Studios chief Lew Wasserman, and with Johnson's consent, resigned his White House commission and became the president of the Motion Picture Association of America. With Valenti's arrival in Hollywood, the pair were lifelong allies, and together orchestrated and controlled how Hollywood would conduct business for the next several decades.
William Patry, a copyright attorney for the Clinton administration, who observed Valenti at first hand says:
His personal passion and extreme comfort around politicians gave him credibility that others ... would lack. Mr Valenti was a consummate salesman, who like all great salesmen ... worked himself up into believing the truth of his clients' message. Those privileged to see Mr Valenti offstage – talking openly with his clients about what could or could not be achieved, and what artifice would or would not work – are aware that Mr Valenti's clients frequently disagreed with his advice and directed him to deliver a different message through a different artifice. [He] was a great actor working on the stage of Washington DC (and sometimes globally) on behalf of an industry that appreciated his craft, but that never let him forget that the message was theirs and not his.
Movie rating system
In 1968, Valenti created the MPAA film rating system, which initially comprised four distinct ratings: G, M, R and X. The M rating was soon replaced by GP, and changed to PG in 1972. The X rating immediately proved troublesome, since it was not trademarked and therefore was used freely by the pornography industry, with which it became most associated. Films such as Midnight Cowboy and A Clockwork Orange were assumed to be pornographic because they carried the X rating. In 1990 the NC-17 rating was introduced as a trademarked "adults only" replacement for the non-trademarked X-rating. The PG-13 rating was added in 1984 to provide a greater range of distinction for audiences, and was first proposed to Valenti by Steven Spielberg.
Retirement
Jack Valenti
Valenti's salary in 2004 was reported to be $1.35 million, which made him the seventh-highest paid Washington trade group chief, according to the National Journal.
Valenti was nominated for President of the United States by the Alfalfa Club in 2004.
In August 2004, Valenti, then 82 years old, retired and was replaced by former U.S. Congressman and Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. The current head of the ratings system, Joan Graves, was appointed by Valenti.
After retirement from the MPAA, he became involved in technology-related venture capital activities, such as joining the Advisory Board of Legend Ventures where he advised on media investment opportunities. He also remained a supporter of causes linked to his Italian American heritage and was a member of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) for more than 20 years.
After retiring from the MPAA in 2004, Valenti became the first President of Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, an organization founded by philanthropists Edward W. Scott and Adam Waldman. The founders wanted to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in its work to prevent millions of people from dying of preventable and treatable diseases each year. Under Valenti's leadership, Friends of the Global Fight oversaw a steady increase in U.S. funding for the Global Fund, resulting in a large-scale, positive impact in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Valenti remained President of Friends of the Global Fight until his death in 2007.
Death
He died on April 26, 2007, at his home in Washington from stroke complications. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery under a veteran's gravestone, which lists both his war decorations and his years as president of the MPAA.
Following his death, the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) launched the NIAF Jack Valenti Institute, which provides support to Italian American film students, in his memory. Director Martin Scorsese launched the institute at the Foundation's 32nd Anniversary Gala, after receiving an award from Mary Margaret Valenti.
Legacy
His memoirs This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House and Hollywood were published on May 15, 2007, only a few weeks after his death.
Honors
Valenti received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal for his service with the Army Air Force during the Second World War. In 1969, Jack Valenti received the Bronze Medallion, New York City's highest civilian honor. In 1985, Jack Valenti received the French Légion d'Honneur. In 2002, the University of Houston bestowed Valenti an honorary doctorate.
In December 2003, Valenti received the "Legend in Leadership Award" from the Chief Executive Leadership Institute of the Yale School of Management.
In June 2005, the Washington DC headquarters of the Motion Picture Association of America, was renamed the Jack Valenti Building. It is located at 888 16th St. NW, Washington DC, very close to the White House. Jack Valenti maintained an office on the 8th floor, outside the MPAA's space, until his death.
In April 2008, the University of Houston renamed its School of Communication to the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication in his honor. Valenti was one of the school's notable alumni.
Personal life
In 1962, at the age of 41, Valenti married Mary Margaret Valenti. They had three children: John, Alexandra and Warner Bros. studio executive Courtenay Valenti. He died just before their forty-fifth wedding anniversary.
In 1964, the FBI conducted an investigation concerning whether Valenti had a sexual relationship with a male photographer (at a time when homosexual acts were still illegal in many states of the United States). The investigation concluded that there was no evidence that Valenti was a homosexual.[19]
In 1995, he voiced a portrayal of himself on the Warner Bros. animated series Freakazoid! (close friend Steven Spielberg was the executive producer); wherein he helped recount the origin of the titular hero; he also lectured about the movie ratings by using stickers of a family; and also made frequent reference to his cheeks.
In the 2016 biographical film Jackie, Valenti is portrayed by actor Max Casella.
Books by Jack Valenti
Ten Heroes and Two Heroines (1957)
The Bitter Taste of Glory (1971)
A Very Human President (1976; ISBN 0-671-80834-6)
Protect and Defend (1992; ISBN 0-385-41735-7)
Speak Up With Confidence (2002; ISBN 0-7868-8750-8)
This Time This Place (2007; ISBN 0-307-34664-1 )
Amanda S. Stevenson 
