Frank Mancuso Sr., a l
ongtime MPTF Corporate Board Chairman from 2003 to 2010 who served as the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures starting in 1984 and then MGM, passed away on October 1, 2026. During his time with MPTF, Frank guided us through an era defined by generational outreach campaigns, national health care transformations, and complex financial restructuring. Frank recognized that a major hurdle facing the MPTF was a widening generational gap, as younger Hollywood professionals were less familiar with the charity than old Hollywood icons. This included throwing our legendary, star-studded “A Fine Romance” gala in 2005.
Bob Beitcher, MPTF CEO and President, joined us during Frank’s tenure and recalls him warmly:
“I first met Frank when I was running Jim Henson’s company in the late ‘80s and Frank was interested in learning more about family programming. Later on, I went to work at Paramount and had the pleasure of seeing this legend in action. He was smart, perceptive, curious, pragmatic, and always had the audience in mind when he discussed film projects. He came from exhibition and distribution and respected the challenges of attracting people to the theater. Frank was also kind and caring and always asked about my family and clearly, clearly, his family was front-and-center in his life.
When I joined the MPTF board in 2007, Frank not only welcomed me but also spent the time, inviting me to his home, to educate me on the complexities of the organization. And then, when I agreed to move into the CEO role at MPTF, he began referring to me as “the onion farmer” – as in, there are a lot of layers to what MPTF does and who it is, and at times they might make you cry! We enjoyed a lot of laughs about that over the years.
His generosity of spirit will be missed by all of the industry. Like they say, “the end of an era,” and Frank was a legend at a time when, I think we’ll all agree, the industry knew how to recognize and celebrate the achievements of leaders like him. Rest in Peace.”
