Bill Burton, 46, Midwest publicist for Columbia Pictures, was noted for his legendary promotion ideas for movies.
There were no services for Mr. Burton, a resident of the Near North Side. He died Saturday in Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
”He won a lot of respect from other publicists because he was a true professional and very honest,” John Iltis, a business associate and friend, said. ”He was always up on his movies. His ideas were wonderful and very creative. He could write a short piece, funny or serious as needed. He serviced the press and the people with his material.”
Mr. Burton covered an 8-state area, one that included about 10 major cities. His responsibilities included promoting new Columbia releases, often one every three weeks. His job ranged from getting reviews and stories about the movies in newspapers to placing cardboard cutouts of the stars in fast-food chains and organizing coloring contests in local libraries.
”He had a good rapport in person and on the phone,” Iltis said. ”I worked with him for 15 years and he was the creme de la creme of publicists.” Among the films he helped promote were ”Ghostbusters” and ”Karate Kid,” both parts I and II. In ”Ghostbusters,” he had the mothers of Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray throw marshmallows at Mrs. Stay Puft when she appeared on the screen. Cult followers of the film still boisterously repeat the ritual.
Last summer he gave away 200 bikinis on Oak Street beach to promote the movie ”Armed and Dangerous.”
A 1964 graduate of Drury College in Springfield, Mo., he also took graduate courses in English at Southern Illinois University. In 1967, he went to work for Twentieth Century Fox Pictures, and he was employed from 1974 to 1982 with Universal Pictures in Dallas. In 1982, he joined Columbia as Midwest field representative in Chicago.
He often traveled with stars on promotion tours and was noted for his rapport with even the most difficult of them.
Survivors include his mother, Wanda Mae Burton; a sister, Suzanne Christian; and a brother, Harold.