Veteran Hollywood Publicist Dies at 77

Arlene Winnick, a veteran Hollywood publicist who worked with clients ranging from Universal Studios Hollywood to the TCL Chinese Theatre over a three-decade-plus career, has died. She was 77.

Winnick died Oct. 1 in Beverly Hills from an extended illness, according to publicist Jerry Digney, who credited her with being an integral part of Solters & Digney and its successor, Digney & Co. Public Relations.

Winnick worked in the entertainment industry for more than 30 years. Early in her career, she helped pioneer marketing and publicity campaigns for the emerging home video industry, which featured wildly successful exercise tapes starring Richard Simmons, Jane Fonda and Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Over the years, she also worked as a consultant with several independent PR firms and the Digney team on many of its entertainment accounts, including Universal Studios Hollywood, Madame Tussauds Hollywood and Las Vegas, Warner Bros. Studio Tour, the Carousel of Hope gala, TCL Chinese Theatres Hollywood and Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

Among her final collaborations were handprint-footprint ceremonies at the TCL Chinese Theatre for James Cameron and Jon Landau, Keanu Reeves and the cast of the Avengers films.

In addition to her work in Hollywood, Winnick had more than 35 years’ PR experience handling PR and special events in the food/restaurant and travel/tourism arenas on behalf of Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, BeautifulPlaces, Le Meridien Beverly Hills (now the SLS hotel), RanchWeb, Paradisio de la Bonita, Ceiba del Mar and Pacifica Holistic Resort and Spa (Mexico), Wyndam Bel Age (now The London West Hollywood), Madison and Mulholland (luxury events and celebrity gifting), Lake Arrowhead Resort + Spa, Johnnie Walker and Westlake Village Inn.

Since 2012, Winnick had also been a senior writer at L.A. Arts Online, where she reported on and reviewed more than 50 events and shows. She was also a volunteer at Project Angel Food. Winnick was a native of Great Neck, N.Y.

She was preceded in death by her partner of 20 years, Richard Schulenberg. Survivors include two sons, Jon and Andrew Gladston; a brother, Larry Beer; a daughter-in-law, Leslie; two stepdaughters, Katie and Amy, with her husband Chris; and seven grandchildren, Jacob, Talia, Harper, Lucy, Elenor, Kalan and Pono.