Helene Hahn Lloyd Dies: Former Disney EVP & DreamWorks Founding Exec Was 78

Helene Hahn Lloyd, the former Disney executive vice president and a founding executive of DreamWorks, has died. She was 78.

According to her management team, Lloyd “died peacefully in her sleep” on Tuesday, Oct. 24 in Park City, Utah, where she moved after leaving DreamWorks in 2004 and lived with her husband of more than two decades, Charles “Chuck” Lloyd Jr., who died this July.

Born July 13, 1948 in Westbury, New York, Lloyd (née Burlakoff) graduated from Hofstra University in 1970 before moving to Los Angeles, where she worked as a temp for Paramount Pictures while attending Loyola Law School, where she graduated in ’75.

In 1977, Lloyd returned to Paramount as senior vice president, earning a reputation for her dealmaking skills.

Lloyd then became executive vice president at Disney in 1981, reportedly the highest position achieved by a woman in Hollywood at the time. During her time at Disney, along with Jeffrey Katzenberg, she helped solidify the studio’s landmark partnership with Pixar.

In 1994, Lloyd became one of the first executives hired to build DreamWorks, eventually becoming its chief operating officer until her departure in 2004.

The family asks those who wish to make a donation in Helene and Chuck’s memory to do so with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, in honor of their shared love of skiing and their support for the next generation of athletes.