‘Sleepless in Seattle’ Legend Dies of COPD: Lynda Obst Was 74

Film producer and author Lynda Obst passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at the age of 74. Her son, producer Oly Obst, shared the sad news with The Hollywood Reporter. He said that Obst passed away at her home surrounded by loved ones.

“My mom was a trailblazer and a fierce advocate for women,” said Oly. Also, she was an amazing mother, sister and best friend. [My wife] Julie and I are incredibly grateful that she was my mom and that my daughters got to have her as a grandmother. We will miss her.” The outlet also published a statement from Obst’s brother, Rick Rosen, who is a partner at WME.

“Our family is immensely proud of the career that she had and the role model she was for women in the industry, but beyond that, we will always remember her incredible love of our family,” he said. “She was always happiest when she was around the family.”

Obst was best known for producing iconic movies like Sleepless in Seattle, Flashdance, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Interstellar, among many others. Within Hollywood, she was celebrated for her conscious effort to support other women in the industry. Many of her friends and collaborators spoke to THR about her work, sharing some heartwarming stories about how Obst supported creativity and passion in the business.

Obst was raised in a New York suburb not far outside of New York City. She studied philosophy in college, and left graduate school early to take a job as a book editor at Random House in 1993. Back in February, Obst herself told THR that she was a “tomboy” growing up, and that she was directionless after college. She said she worked as a DJ “for five minutes” and as a copywriter for rock bands, explaining: “I was always driven but had no idea where I was going.”

Obst moved to Los Angeles with her then-husband, David Obst, when his employer Simon & Schuster attempted to start a production company. Obst was able to use her connections in publishing and magazines to land a job with producer Peter Guber, who placed her in development. Obst set out to build more connections and surround herself with like-minded people, she said. Her magazine connections led to her first hit as a producer – Flashdance, written by former Esquire columnist Tom Hedley.

Obst would later produce some of her best-known work with Debra Hill when they formed one of the first all-female production companies, Hill/Obst Prods. They worked on Adventures in Babysitting and The Fisher King, among others. She then went solo, which is when she produced Sleepless in Seattle and all the other hits that would follow. In 1996, Obst wrote about her life and career in her own memoir, Hello, He Lied, which is currently available in print but not digital or audiobook formats.

Obst continued working well into her 70s and was active through the last few years of her life as well – even continuing to practice gymnastics. However, she was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) back in 2018, which may have been the cause of her passing. Obst told THR she was “a passionate smoker” from age 16 until 2018, and she advised readers not to follow suit. She said: “I very much want people to know that you could be the one hit with the fickle finger of fate, and I want to be clear what the consequences of smoking are. It’s not the way you want to spend your retirement or your last 10, 20 or 30 years.”