Helene Hahn Loyd, a former executive vice president at Disney and one of the original executives at DreamWorks SKG, died peacefully in her sleep on Oct. 24 in Park City, Utah. She was 78.
Loyd graduated from Hofstra University in 1970 and earned her law degree from Loyola Law School in 1975. She began her career at Paramount Pictures before joining Disney, where she was named executive vice president in 1981. Working with Jeffrey Katzenberg, she played a key role in Disney's renaissance and the company's partnership with Pixar.
In 1994, Katzenberg recruited Loyd as one of the first executives to build DreamWorks SKG, the studio founded by Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. At DreamWorks, she rose to chief operating officer. Loyd left the company in 2004 and relocated to Park City, where she took up skiing.
Throughout her career, Loyd served as a mentor to many women entering the film industry. Her husband of over two decades, Charles "Chuck" Loyd Jr., died in July. The family requests that those wishing to honor her memory donate to U.S. Ski & Snowboard.