Dawn Steel

stars  Ms. Steel, who came to Hollywood in the 1970's to take a merchandising job at Paramount, rose quickly to become president of production at that studio, where she oversaw development of such films as ''Flashdance,'' ''Footloose,'' ''Top Gun,'' ''The Untouchables,'' ''Fatal Attraction'' and ''The Accused.'' She became the first woman to head a major studio when she held the top job at Columbia Studios from October 1987 until January 1991. During her reign, the studio's films included ''Awakenings,'' ''Flatliners,'' ''Ghostbusters 2'' and ''Casualties of War.''

stars  Ms. Steel's skill as an executive was sometimes overshadowed by a reputation for an abrasive, take-no-prisoners style. She was called Steel Dawn and the Tank. ''It hurt me deeply, this reputation as tough, hard, mean,'' she said in 1993, following the publication of her autobiography ''They Can Kill You, but They Can't Eat You: Lessons From the Front.

stars  Within six months of her ouster at Paramount, Ms. Steel was offered the job of running Columbia Studios, which was owned by Coca-Cola. Lynda Obst, a producer who was given her early producing jobs by Ms. Steel, said that one of the personal high points of her tenure at Columbia was the decision to restore and reissue the David Lean classic ''Lawrence of Arabia.'' ''It was something that she was extraordinarily proud of,'' said Ms. Obst.

Ms. Steel left the job in 1991, following Sony's purchase of the studio. Her settlement was reportedly in excess of $6 million.

stars  Ms. Steel's dismissal from Paramount remains one of the more unusual in recent Hollywood history. Having married Mr. Roven in 1985, she was in the hospital after the birth of her only child, Rebecca, in March 1987, when she learned that Frank Mancuso, chairman of Paramount, and Mr. Tanen, chairman of the Motion Picture Group, had ousted her. Exactly why they did was unclear.

stars  her romantic relationships with such figures as the actor Richard Gere and Martin Scorsese, the director.