Don Simpson

Donald Clarence Simpson (October 29, 1943 – January 19, 1996) was an American film producer, screenwriter, and actor. Simpson and his producing partner Jerry Bruckheimer produced hit films such as Flashdance (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Top Gun (1986), and The Rock (1996). At the time of his death in 1996, Simpson's films' total gross was $3 billion worldwide. Early life Simpson was born in Seattle, Washington, to June Hazel (née Clark), a housewife, and Russell J. Simpson, a mechanic at Boeing at the time of his son's birth. He grew up in Juneau, Alaska. His parents were strict Baptists and Simpson would go to church four to five times a week. He would call himself a "straight-A Bible student". He attended West Anchorage High School and later majored in English at the University of Oregon. Upon graduation, Simpson worked as a ski instructor in Utah. He later moved to San Francisco where he worked for a theatrical advertising agency and did public relations for the First International Erotic Film Festival. Career 1970s & 1980s: Paramount Studios In the early 1970s, Simpson started working for Jack Wodell & Associates in San Francisco before moving to Los Angeles. He got a job marketing exploitation films for Warner Bros in 1972, handling distribution marketing for the movies Woodstock and A Clockwork Orange.