Tichi Wilkerson Kassel dead at 77

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (UPI) -- Tichi Wilkerson Kassel, editor and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter and founder of Women in Film, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 77.

Wilkerson Kassel, who had Parkinson's disease for the past 14 years, died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from complications of intestinal surgery, The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.

She became The Reporter's publisher in 1962 and held the post until 1988.

Wilkerson Kassel founded the trade paper's Key Art Awards, now in its 33rd year, to honor excellence in film advertising, the paper said.

In 1973, she founded the nonprofit organization Women in Film after the Writers Guild of America revealed only 2 percent of all television series scripts were penned by women.

Women in Film now has 10,000 members and dozens of foreign chapters, The Reporter said.

Wilkerson Kassel is survived by her husband, a sister, two children and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be Friday at Hillside Memorial Park and Mortuary in West Los Angeles.