Helene Hahn Loyd, DreamWorks COO and Disney Executive, Dies at 78

Helene Hahn Loyd, the executive who helped build DreamWorks SKG and shaped Disney's renaissance of the 1980s and '90s, died Oct. 24 in Park City, Utah. She was 78.

Loyd belonged to the small circle of women who reached the top of the Hollywood studio system when that system was almost entirely male. Named executive vice president at Walt Disney Studios in 1981, she became one of the most high-ranking women in the film business at the time.

From temp job to formidable dealmaker

Born Helene Bulakoff in Westbury, New York, she graduated from Hofstra University and moved to Los Angeles. Her entry into the industry was modest. She took a temp job at Paramount Pictures while attending law school, and earned her degree from Loyola Law School in 1975.

She returned to Paramount and rose to senior vice president, earning a reputation as a formidable dealmaker.

The Disney move in 1981 changed the trajectory of her career. Working with Jeffrey Katzenberg, she helped engineer the studio's comeback, including its partnership with Pixar — the alliance that would transform animated film and, over time, the entire family-entertainment business.

What does her career change for Hollywood?

In 1994, Katzenberg recruited her again, this time to help build DreamWorks SKG from the ground up. She served as its chief operating officer, giving her operational command of a major new studio at a moment when Hollywood's established order had gone unchallenged for decades.

Her presence in those rooms mattered beyond the deals themselves. She was a passionate mentor to upcoming female executives, at a company and in an industry where women rarely held the authority to greenlight anything.

A second life on the slopes

Loyd eventually moved to Park City, Utah, where she took up skiing with characteristic intensity. Her official obituary stated that she "approached skiing with the same ferocity she applied to dealmaking."

Her husband of over two decades, Charles "Chuck" Loyd Jr., died in July, just months before her.

The family has asked that donations be made to U.S. Ski & Snowboard, honoring the couple's shared love of skiing and their commitment to supporting the next generation of athletes. Donors are asked to indicate that the gift is made in their memory.

Loyd's death closes a chapter on the generation of executives who rebuilt Disney and launched DreamWorks — and on one of the few women in that room whose name belongs in the story.