Producer behind Rocky films dies

SANTA MONICA, Calif . — Robert Chartoff, the Oscarwinning movie producer behind the boxing classics Rocky and Raging Bull, has died. He was 81.

Lynn Hendee, the president of his company Chartoff Productions, says Chartoff died June 10 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer.

Chartoff had been a movie producer for nearly a decade when he found his career-defining hit in 1976’s Rocky, the small-budget Sylvester Stallone movie that became a blockbuster and won three Academy Awards including best picture.

Chartoff would go on to produce all seven movies in the Rocky series, including the forthcoming Creed, due for release later this year.