Judith James, Producer on ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ and ‘Quiz Show,’ Dies at 86

Judith James, the longtime producing partner of Richard Dreyfuss who worked with the Oscar winner on films including Mr. Holland’s Opus, Quiz Show and Mad Dog Time, has died. She was 86.

James died Friday at her home in Santa Barbara after a bout with cancer, according to her son, Jackson James.

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James and Dreyfuss worked together for 35 years, and their partnership also included the telefilms Funny, You Don’t Look 200: A Constitutional Vaudeville and the Prisoner of Honor, which aired in 1987 and 1991, respectively, and The Lightkeepers (2009). They were co-writers on You Don’t Look 200 as well.

“From the minute I met Judy James at the Mark Taper Forum, I knew I had found someone who had the same passion for storytelling that I did,” Dreyfuss said in a statement. “In all the years we were producing partners, we were of like mind, not gender, and we always found a way to agree and wouldn’t have done anything without each other’s approval. She was a wonderful woman and a great friend.”

Dreyfuss received an Oscar nomination for his turn as music teacher Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995), and the Robert Redford-directed Quiz Show (1994) was nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture. The crime comedy Mad Dog Time (1996) starred the Goodbye Girl star as a mob boss.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Judith Rutherford graduated from Vassar College in 1959 and moved to New York to pursue a career in the theater. She produced the groundbreaking interracial off-Broadway play In White America, which won her a Drama Desk prize in 1964.

James earned an Emmy for producing 1987’s Eleanor: In Her Own Words for KCET’s American Playhouse, starring Lee Remick as Eleanor Roosevelt in a one-woman show. The play was also staged at the Taper.

In a theatrical production partnership with Camille Cosby, she developed and produced the Emily Mann play Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, which was adapted for a 1999 telefilm that starred Ruby Dee and Diahann Carroll and landed a Peabody Award.

James was a founder and leader of The James Gang, a political network that met for more than 20 years, usually in her living room. The group hosted mayors, presidential candidates, authors and experts. Members were often involved in political activities and in supporting candidates.

As a member of Women in Film, James in 2005 was instrumental in securing and designing an alliance with General Motors, which supported programs for female filmmakers. She also taught classes at UCLA and Santa Barbara City College and mentored aspiring screenwriters.

She was married to legendary personal manager, A&R man and music publicist Billy James, whose clients included Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne and The Doors, from the 1960s until their 1982 divorce. The couple lived in a sprawling, rustic house in Laurel Canyon, where she raised ducks and chickens in the tree-filled backyard.

In addition to her son, survivors include her daughter-in-law, Caroline, granddaughter Josie and stepson Mark.

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