DON JOHNSON - FILM CLASSIFICATION PIONEER VALENTI DIES AT 85

FILM CLASSIFICATION PIONEER VALENTI DIES AT 85

Jack Valenti, the man who invented Hollywood's ratings system, has died at the age of 85.

The Texas-born lobbyist died at his home in Washington DC after suffering a stroke last month.

His film classification system – G, PG, PG-13 and R – has been used for American films for the last four decades.

A former White House aide to Lyndon Johnson, Valenti was president at the Motion Picture Association of America for 40 years.

His successor Dan Glickman said that the movie copyright campaigner was a "giant who loomed large over two of the world's most glittering stages – Washington and Hollywood".

"The entire MPAA community is deeply saddened by the news that we have lost Jack. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mary Margaret, with their three children, Alexandra, John and Courtenay, and with the rest of the Valenti family," the MPAA president added.

US president George Bush, the former governor of Texas, described Valenti as a "great American and a great Texan" who "leaves a powerful legacy in Washington, in Hollywood and across our nation".

Valenti had insisted that his ratings system enshrined the freedom of speech of filmmakers by protecting movies from government censorship.