Valenti was devoted to friends, family and film

We were both privileged to work with Jack Valenti and to know him well. To say his death marks the passing of an era is only part of the story. He leaves a big footprint. There was no better friend, and if you were his friend, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for you. He used to greet us with hugs and kisses and he was more concerned about our lives than citing his own accomplishments. “What can I do to help?” is the phrase by which we most remember him.

When William Peter Blatty wrote the book “The Exorcist,” he wrote about one house in Georgetown, a colonial house that is right next to a long stairway. At the end of the film the priest who conducts the exorcism jumps out the window and falls down the five flights of stairs. It’s one of the most beautiful houses in Georgetown and when we started making the movie, we found out it was owned by Florence Mahoney, who was a very significant contributor to the Democratic Party at that time. This was in the days when Nixon and McGovern were running for the presidency. Mahoney knew nothing about movies. She didn’t see movies. She hated the idea of a film crew in her house while she was hosting McGovern there during the campaign.

When I [Billy Friedkin] first went to see her, she was very sweet but she wanted no part of this movie. We couldn’t pay her enough money. She’d never heard of “The Exorcist” and she turned me down.

I went to Jack. I knew that he was close to her, and he was the only guy who could possibly talk to her about this. He vouched for me. He told her that she could trust me and I would not screw up her house. It took him quite a while but he finally persuaded her. The film would not be what it was without that house. We had no alternative. As a little bonus, he also got us permission to film in Holy Trinity Church, which is the preeminent Catholic church in Washington and where John F. Kennedy worshiped. We were turned down by the priests at Holy Trinity, until Jack talked to them.

He was the most dedicated man we’ve ever known -- to his friends and family, but mostly to Mary Margaret and his children, and of course to the movie business. As chairman of the Motion Picture Assn. of America, he was the only one who could bring consensus to a group of powerful but disparate individuals, whose internal agendas were often more pressing than the problems of the MPAA. Jack was a leader and a healer. He was persuasive but never offensive. He loved movies. He was our greatest cheerleader, and he accomplished more for the industry than anyone ever has.

He was also incorruptible. When I [Sherry Lansing] was running Paramount, we’d often get ratings on films that we were unhappy with. The film would get an R when we wanted it to be PG-13 but we didn’t want to make the cuts to get a PG-13. I’d always call Jack to see if he could help and say, “They’re not being fair.” But I never once got him to change the ratings.

On memorable occasions we would visit Jack and Mary Margaret at their home in Washington. There was always a casual mix of congressmen and -women from both parties, Cabinet members of various presidents, conservative and liberal journalists, and of course, movie people. A number of years ago, we were Jack’s guests at a party in Venice, Italy. We brought our son, also named Jack, who was 9. Like most boys his age, he was very shy. Here were all these adults, titled adults like counts and dukes, and diplomats and the mayor of Venice, and Jack Valenti spent most of the evening talking to our son Jack about his career, about things he liked to do, and he encouraged him to take his education seriously. Our son Jack has always remembered Valenti for doing that. He probably wouldn’t have been as motivated to go to college if Jack hadn’t told him how important it was.

We had dinner with Jack and Mary Margaret a few weeks before the onset of his illness. As always, he was filled with ideas and energy. His newest book had just come out and he was planning a series of speeches and public appearances. He wrote a book about how to give a good speech and his advice was invaluable, but no one could do it better than Jack. He spoke without notes and we often wondered how he could do that until we realized the words always came from his true feelings -- from his heart.

Jack epitomized the idea of a Renaissance man in America. He loved and served this country in uniform and as a civilian. He traveled widely and often, and we’ve seen how he was welcomed all over the world. But whenever he came back from Russia or China or the Middle East, he greeted us as though our lives, our work and our friendship were the most important things in the world to him. When it was time to part, he’d say, “I love you both very much.”

We love you, Jack, and we’d miss you terribly if you weren’t so alive in our memories.

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William Friedkin directed “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” among many other films. Sherry Lansing is the former chairwoman of Paramount Motion Picture Group. They are married.