Former Hollywood studios chief John Calley dies

　　SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- John Calley, a longtime Hollywood executive who led three major studios and produced or championed such blockbuster films including "Catch-22" and "Da Vinci Code," died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 81.

　　"John Calley will be remembered in the history of Hollywood as an extraordinary studio chief, who ran three studios with a maximum of taste and a minimum of tyranny," Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sony Corporation Howard Stringer said in a statement. "Even today, the quality of his movies still have contemporary resonance¹."

　　Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal said Calley had "a steely business mind and the soul of an artist."

　　A memorial is slated² to be held on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City near Los Angeles, Sony said.

　　Calley, who was born in Jersey³ city, N.J., landed the job of producing an adaptation of Joseph Heller's black humor novel " Catch-22" after he launched his Hollywood career in the mail room at NBC at age 21. Later, Calley served as production chief of Warner Bros. and president and vice⁴ chairman, working on movies including "The Exorcist," "A clockwork Orange," "All the President 's Men" and "Superman."

　　Calley was named president and chief operating officer for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists in 1993 before moving to Sony three years later. He was responsible for producing such box office hits including "Men in Black" and "Spider-Man."

　　He also produced blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code," a 2006 American mystery thriller⁵ film which stars Tom Hanks, and its 2009 sequel, "Angels and Demons⁶."

　　He was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in 2009 with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, in recognition of his "intellectual rigor⁷, sophisticated artistic⁸ sensibilities and calm, understated manner."

1 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

2 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

3 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

6 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 rigor   

n.严酷，严格，严厉

参考例句：

• Their analysis lacks rigor.他们的分析缺乏严谨性。||The crime will be treated with the full rigor of the law.这一罪行会严格依法审理。

8 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。