Sherry Lansing Reflects on Life After Hollywood

Sherry Lansing, the former CEO of Paramount Pictures and president of 20th Century Fox, is a woman of many firsts. She was the first female to be named the head of a major studio, the first to receive a Pioneer of the Year award, the first studio executive to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the list goes on. After more than 30 years in the movie business, Lansing has shifted her energy to nonprofit work and started her own foundation, which confronts a wide range of concerns, including public education and cancer research. In addition, her biography, “Leading Lady: Sherry Lansing and the Making of a Hollywood Groundbreaker,” was released in 2017.

Her life has been an epic journey focused on living each day to the fullest, appreciating every step and traveling without fear. Lansing’s passion for new experiences has been the motivation behind her many accomplishments and helped spark a great appetite for travel. As she talked to us about her favorite trips, her career and what makes her happy, her enjoyment of life was not only palpable, it was contagious.

So, what drew you to the movie industry?

I have loved movies since I was a child. My father used to take me to the Museum of Science and Industry on the south side of Chicago every Saturday or Sunday, and among the many exhibits we would go to was the nickelodeon. That is where the silent films played, and I watched my father when he watched Harold Lloyd or Charlie Chaplin and I watched him laugh and sometimes I watched him cry. I saw the joy that movies gave him. I saw the power of movies. So as a child, I went to double features at the Hamilton and Jeffery theaters and lost myself in the movies, and was determined that that is what I wanted to do.

You are, of course, aware of the power of destinations and their visual appeal. Feeling transported to another place is a powerful experience. Was that a factor in deciding which films to produce?

I chose to produce films that touched my heart — no matter the location — and the characters or the stories that drew me. I was very interested in all movies but particularly those about human emotions and characters, or if there was a social message I wanted to get across. Sets that were in far-off locations were my way of traveling when traveling was very constricted. I will confess that with the sets in Asia or Japan, I was always like, “Oh, I really must go,” because it was my only way of really traveling.

Did you get a chance to do touristy things when you would go to these sets?

I did my job of course, but I also always tried to have a Saturday where I could explore the area. Travel [has] kept my life in balance. When I was in the movie career, [travel] reminded me that I was just this teeny, teeny, teeny part of a big world and that these movie decisions were not life and death. It was a good way to keep life in perspective, and I still find that all these many years later.

Is there a place you haven’t been to that you still dream of visiting?

I’m 73 and I’ve been traveling since I was a child, but I feel younger now than I have ever felt in my life. There is always someplace new that pops up, so it changes. I’m a very curious person.

Most recently, my husband [Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin] and I went to Sitges [Spain]. There was a big film festival there where my husband was being honored. I had never heard of this place. It is about 20 minutes outside Barcelona and was the most charming town in the world! I mean, you talk about food — fantastic (we ate paella every day!) — but the people, I think the people more than food, more than beauty, it is the interaction with a human being that usually affects me the most. The people were so warm and so charming, and the beaches so gorgeous. There are unlimited possibilities, and every day, my curiosity grows.

Do you have a favorite type of trip?

One of my happiest travel times is when my husband directs operas [because then] we [get to] live in a foreign country for six to eight weeks. He has done operas, many in Florence, Turin, Munich and Tel Aviv, and what happens is we move and live in an apartment. I get up every day and wander the streets. That is quite different than anything else I have ever done. And those experiences, living in the culture and being part of it, are probably the happiest times of my life.

I think travel gives you good value systems. I think it keeps your life in balance, and it lets you know that your problems are small. It gives you great gratitude. I went to Africa with the Red Cross for the measles initiative and we vaccinated the children. It is hard to come back and think that you don’t have a very blessed life.

What is your next trip?

I am particularly interested in continuing to explore the United States. A new trip [planned] is to Blackberry Farm. I hear it is a great property! I think there is so much beauty in the United States.

What can make or break a trip for you?

You want a nice hotel, you want good food, you want beauty or culture. But ultimately what makes a good experience, at the end of the day is, do you love the people you are traveling with? Did you have fun? Did you have a spiritual experience? If you’re alone, what did you see? Nature becomes more and more important.

What do you think are the most important traits to have to successfully travel alone?

Curiosity. You have to read about the place you are going to and make a checklist of what you want to see, and then you are busy every day and don’t feel alone at all. An ability to feel comfortable in your own skin is important.

What do you consider your most adventurous life decision?

I guess it was leaving Chicago when I graduated college to pursue my dreams. And then later, I married my husband after I only knew him 12 weeks. Twenty-six years later that turned out to be right. So that is another adventure.

You are known as the woman who broke the glass ceiling in the primarily male executive world of Hollywood. What have you learned through your success?

I think the movie business is tough for everybody. I think being passionate about what you do is key. If you have a passion for what you are doing, then you can’t stop. It is like falling in love. Also enjoying the process is key. I have enjoyed all the jobs I had. I was reading scripts for $5 an hour. I was really happy. I wasn’t just looking for the end result. I never thought I would run a studio.

So that wasn’t your initial goal?

No, my goal was to make good movies and be involved in good movies. Enjoy the process of what you’re doing and then the end results will come, because the process is the journey. The goal is just [to] find what makes you happy now.

Tell us a little about the new book about your life, which was written by Stephen Galloway, of The Hollywood Reporter.

I will never know why I agreed to cooperate! I had no control and no approvals, and I was completely anxious for four years while he was doing it! It’s very hard to have no control, especially for me, and yet at the end of the day, it was better that I didn’t because I would not have put in a lot of stuff. There is a lot that I don’t like in the book, but unfortunately what I don’t like is true. Stephen and I are still really good friends, and I have embraced the book.

There is talk of a movie being made based on it.

Yes, there is! Paula Wagner is the producer. It makes me so happy that Paramount is doing it — my own studio — and that will always be my favorite studio for all the obvious reasons.

What do you miss most about the movie business?

I am very grateful for my time in the movie business. I still go to the movies all the time, and one of my favorite things is sitting in the movie theater eating my popcorn. I just love it! But it is a chapter I had finished, so I don’t miss it. Right now is the best time of my life because I love what I’m doing. If you asked me 20 years ago, I would have said that that was the best time of my life. That is the way it is supposed to be.

Life is about chapters and travel and going to new places. I don’t wish to go back to high school, I don’t wish to go back to college, I don’t wish to go back to teaching, and I don’t wish to go back to the movie business. I loved it all, but I’m at my happiest now.

You shifted from a long and successful career in the movie business to the nonprofit world. Was this an abrupt shift for you?

Not at all. From the time I was a child, I watched my mother, and she was always involved in giving back to the community. We weren’t a wealthy family, but she gave up her time, so I saw it in her that giving back should be as natural as breathing. And so from the time I was a child, I was involved in and raised money for the Hull House in Chicago. I always knew that if I was lucky enough to achieve my dreams and be financially secure, I wanted to start a foundation and give back.

It was a seamless transition because I was ready, I had planned for it, and I went from one office to another. I felt younger and more alive because everything was new to me, similar to what I love about travel. It was a new place to go; it was a new world to learn about.

What is the Sherry Lansing Foundation all about?

My foundation has three buckets. The first is cancer research, in honor of my mother who died of cancer when she was very young. I am a co-founder of Stand Up to Cancer, which [was] started about eight years ago by seven women who had all been touched by cancer in various ways. We created “virtual dream teams” to break down the silos and get people to collaborate because often scientists are working alone. We have given away close to $500 million to scientific research. Number two is improving public education. I’m a regent of the University of California, and I have a ton of programs in the public schools, and one of the programs leads to my third bucket: EnCorps careers. We are taking retired people who have math and science skills and retraining them to be math and science teachers in high school in high-need areas.

What are your plans for the foundation?

To continue to grow and do more and then take it nationwide. My ultimate goal is that every single person should have an equal opportunity to a good public education.

What have you found to be the most demanding part of the not-for-profit world? And the most rewarding?

The main challenge is very similar to getting a movie made. You have to have an idea of something that you love, get other people to believe in the cause, collaborate and then get the funding. [It] is a constant challenge because I can’t do it alone. The most rewarding part is when you see the effect. When I go to a school and kids who never had a math or science teacher now want to be mathematicians or scientists, or you find out that the research you contributed to led to a drug that is saving somebody’s life. This makes it so that every day you feel grateful, and you can’t wait to get up in the morning.