The Emmy winner, who started out as David Susskind’s part-time secretary, was the first female president of the PGA and an honoree at the inaugural Artios Awards.
Renee Valente, the veteran casting executive and Emmy Award winner who was the first woman to serve as president of the Producers Guild of America, has died. She was 88.
Valente, also the first female vice president of Screen Gems and Columbia Pictures Television, died Feb. 20 at her home in Studio City, her friend and publicist Suzanne Lewis told The Hollywood Reporter.
At the Casting Society of America’s inaugural Artios Awards in 1985, Valente was honored for her “contribution to the entertainment industry and the casting process.” Two years later, she was a recipient of a prestigious Crystal Award from Women in Film.
