Robert A Daly

In an unusual move, Warner Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert A. Daly announced Wednesday that he will share his corporate titles with division President Terry Semel to better reflect the partnership and close relationship the two men have enjoyed for more than a decade. The president's title will no longer be used at the Burbank-based company, the studio subsidiary of media and entertainment giant Time Warner Inc. But Daly said he is promoting longtime television executive Barry M.

Nancy M. Daly, a widely respected children's advocate, philanthropist and arts leader in Los Angeles, has died. She was 68. Daly, who had high-profile marriages to entertainment executive Robert A. Daly and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan, had been battling pancreatic cancer. She died Friday in St. Louis while traveling back to Los Angeles from New York in a motor home with her three adult children. "It's exactly what she wanted," her daughter Linda Daly said Saturday.

In Hollywood, where management teams usually enjoy about as much job security as Third World potentates, Warner Bros. has stood as a symbol of stability for more than a decade. Studio Chairman Robert A. Daly's and President Terry Semel's realm extends from film ("Lethal Weapon 3," "The Bodyguard") to television ("Murphy Brown"), and even into retailing. Their division had record pretax earnings of $410 million last year, based on those successes.

Viacom Inc. has hired former Warner Bros. studio chief and industry veteran Robert Daly as a consultant, the company announced Thursday. In an interview, Daly said the part-time position would involve advising Viacom on a variety of entertainment matters, especially its ongoing efforts to restructure Paramount Pictures. Daly also will counsel Viacom on any issues that arise if the media company splits its entertainment and broadcast operations, as it is considering.

One of Hollywood's most experienced and respected executives will be named head of the Los Angeles Dodgers today in a deal that will give him both a minor stake in the club and full management control. Former Warner Bros. Co-chairman Robert A. Daly, who left the studio Oct. 1 after nearly 20 years, will become managing partner of the Dodgers for owner Fox Entertainment Group.

Warner Bros. long-reigning chiefs, Bob Daly and Terry Semel, have lots to smile about these days, including their studio's market share leap to first on the strength of current hits "The Matrix" and "Analyze This" after a dismal two years at the box office. The $10-billion entertainment empire that the duo preside over, which encompasses the studio's movie, television and consumer products divisions and Time Warner's global music business, is firing on all cylinders right now.

* The former Warner Bros. co-chairman is the new chairman and chief executive of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which opens its home season Friday against the Cincinnati Reds. Screening Room: Assuming the Dodgers are not playing, on a Friday night I tend to have some close friends over to watch a movie. Sometimes on both Friday and Saturday, but it's hard to find two movies I want to watch on a given weekend. The only time I ever go to a theater is if there's a "Star Wars"-type movie.

The number to watch for the Dodgers next season will have nothing to do with batting averages or earned-run averages. It's about attendance. Will they reach the 3-million mark again, the way they did last season and in six of the eight non-strike seasons before that? Or will 2000 be the year Dodger fans finally say they've had enough? Will they call an end to the unspoken covenant that brought them out to Chavez Ravine in good faith no matter what?

As a lifelong fan of the Dodgers dating to Brooklyn, Robert Daly's passion is such that the club's success--or lack of it--established the tone at the family dinner table. The Dodgers' new chairman obviously must have found 1999 difficult to digest. With high hopes and one of baseball's highest payrolls, the Dodgers produced one of their most disappointing and dispiriting seasons. Their 77-85 record equated to slightly more than $1 million per win based on a payroll of $80.

Wake up, you sleepy head. Rub your eyes. Get out of bed. Wake up, the wicked Fox is dead. It is not an overstatement to say that today, the Dodgers could experience their greatest victory since 1988. They could win back their soul. The Fox Group is giving up full control of the team--along with about 10% ownership--to a former Hollywood mogul and longtime Dodger fan named Robert Daly. Don't care if it's John Daly. Don't care if it's Tyne Daly.

Bob Daly, former Warner Bros. studio chief and ex-chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, is expected to be named today to chair the board of trustees for the Save the Children charity. Daly, 68, will succeed Thomas S. Murphy, former chief executive of Capital Cities/ABC. Daly and his wife, Oscar-winning songwriter Carole Bayer Sager, have been active for years with Save the Children, which is involved in assisting children worldwide coping with disease, poverty and war.

Having refused to comment on the sale of the Dodgers since revealing at the start of the protracted process that he would be leaving when a new owner took over, Dodger Chairman Bob Daly said Thursday that Frank McCourt has received "a bum rap" and that he expected McCourt's controversial bid to buy the club to be approved.

Robert Daly was in New York on Monday, where he reported the temperature to be 14 degrees, much too bitter to be construed as an invigorating break from the hot seat that comes with being chairman of the Dodgers, a position that now could become even hotter as the flames of another potential distraction licks at a franchise that has known only turmoil since News Corp. bought it in 1998.

With the Dodgers playing their best baseball of the season, Chairman Bob Daly said Thursday he is willing to increase an industry-high $110-million payroll to acquire an impact player if the team remains in the National League playoff race. "Where we are right now, obviously we're on a hot roll," said Daly, whose team has won nine of 10. "When you look at the team now, they really feel like they're going to win. They feel confident.

Davey Johnson began his post-Dodger experience relaxing with friends, something uncommon during the former manager's brief and stormy tenure at Chavez Ravine. Johnson and his wife, Susan, returned Saturday to their off-season home in Winter Park, Fla., receiving a much warmer reception than they had from the Dodgers the past few months.

* The former Warner Bros. co-chairman is the new chairman and chief executive of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which opens its home season Friday against the Cincinnati Reds. Screening Room: Assuming the Dodgers are not playing, on a Friday night I tend to have some close friends over to watch a movie. Sometimes on both Friday and Saturday, but it's hard to find two movies I want to watch on a given weekend. The only time I ever go to a theater is if there's a "Star Wars"-type movie.

With the Dodgers playing their best baseball of the season, Chairman Bob Daly said Thursday he is willing to increase an industry-high $110-million payroll to acquire an impact player if the team remains in the National League playoff race. "Where we are right now, obviously we're on a hot roll," said Daly, whose team has won nine of 10. "When you look at the team now, they really feel like they're going to win. They feel confident.

Robert Daly was in New York on Monday, where he reported the temperature to be 14 degrees, much too bitter to be construed as an invigorating break from the hot seat that comes with being chairman of the Dodgers, a position that now could become even hotter as the flames of another potential distraction licks at a franchise that has known only turmoil since News Corp. bought it in 1998.

Bob Daly didn't need the job, but childhood memories are powerful and someone had to clean this mess. The allure of righting the Dodgers' teetering ship inspired the former Warner Bros. studio boss, a fan since he was 6, despite the aggravation accompanying the gig. So the longtime Hollywood power broker accepted the challenge. Daly purchased part of the franchise from Fox, becoming managing partner, chairman and chief executive, and rolled up his sleeves. Now comes the hard part.

New Dodger chief Robert Daly squints into the glare above Chavez Ravine, looking through the glass walls of his office, just a pop fly from the foul pole marking left field. "This is my field of dreams," he says. Some field of dreams. On this day, Dodger Stadium is a field of dirt. Lots of it, thanks to a $50-million make-over that must be finished before the Cincinnati Reds show up on April 14 for the home opener.