Hollywood film industry lobbyist Jack Valenti who developed the US movie ratings system has died at the age of 85. He suffered a stroke in March in his Washington home but died of complications resulting from the stroke according to Seth Oster from the Motion Picture Association of America.
Mr Valenti had led the MPAA for 38 years, introducing the G, PG, R and X film ratings system. He retired in 2004. Earlier in his career, Valenti had been an aide to Presidents John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.
He was in the motorcade when President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. As the man who represented the Hollywood industry in Washington, Valenti was a fierce opponent of film piracy, crusading for copyright enforcement.
He also abolished the industry's restrictive Hays code, which prohibited explicit violence and sex on the screen.
The film ratings system that Valenti laid out in the 1960s generally has remained intact, although some changes have been added over the decades.