Even in the cocaine-and-creativity-fueled orgiastic landscape of Hollywood in the 1960s and '70s, Robert Evans stood out.
From behind an extensive selection of oversize glasses, the preternaturally tanned actor-turned-studio executive saw brilliance in scripts and actors where no one else did. In fewer than 10 years, he took the near-dead Paramount Pictures to No. 1 by launching a string of film classics, including "Rosemary's Baby," "Love Story," "The Godfather" and "Chinatown," all while maintaining a "This is Hollywood, baby" lifestyle that earned him the title "the playboy peacock of Paramount."
He was, in a phrase, larger than life.
