Chuck Sloan, Commercial Producer and Entrepreneur
Sloan's eclectic career included a business venture with superstar Steve McQueen, various production companies and partnership in a talent agency.
Charles “Chuck” Jefferson Sloan, a resident of Pacific Palisades, California, died of a heart attack while swimming in the British Virgin Islands on April 4, 2011. He was 71.
Born in Los Angeles on July 22, 1939, Sloan attended Hollywood High School and served in the U.S. Army in Germany for two years. Upon returning from military service, he began the first of many entrepreneurial activities by partnering with actor Steve McQueen in a business where they built thermoplastic gas tanks for motorcycles. At the time, he also managed parking lots, nightclubs and musicians, and signed with Allied Artists as an actor in a three-picture deal.
After temporarily filling in for a friend as a prop master, Sloan moved from props to producing and was sent to New York City where he opened a commercial production company called Wakeford/Orloff. Shortly later, he founded the Film Consortium, where he was one of the producers on 1981 film Roar, with Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith. In 1982, Sloan founded Plum Productions with director/cameraman Eric Saarinen, which began an almost 30-year partnership. The duo were the recipients of several awards, including the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions Festival for achievement in commercial direction.
In 2006, Sloan partnered to form talent agency Reign, and was busy promoting electric bicycles, electric cars and yoga in a side venture. He is survived by his ex-wife, writer-director Holly Goldberg; two sons; and a sister.