Ronald W. Wanless
In Los Angeles, CA, January 19, 2007, Ronald W. Wanless a former longtime resident of Buttonball Rd., Orange. He maintained a residence in Los Angeles. Born in New Haven, CT on August 22, 1946, he was the son of the late W. Roland and Clara Boyden Wanless. With a long and distinguished career in the motion picture industry, Ron served as Senior V.P. of Worldwide Marketing, The Samuel Goldwyn, Co., President of Worldwide Marketing, New Line Cinema, Senior V.P. of Advertising and Publicity for the Atlantic Entertainment Group and Management Supervisor at the Entertainment Division of Saatchi and Saatchi Advertising in New York, The Diener/ Hauser/Bates Agency with accounts with all of the Major Motion Picture Studios. Ronald was a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, The Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation and the New York Athletic Club. Ron is survived by two aunts, an uncle and many cousins living out of state. A service of interment will be held in the Orange Center Cemetery in Orange, CT on Friday, January 25, 2008 at 11 a.m. Arrangements with BEECHER & BENNETT, 2300 WHITNEY AVE., HAMDEN. Memorial contributions, if desired, may be sent in Memory of Ron to the Will Rodgers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, 10045 Riverside Dr., Toluca Lake, CA 91602 or the Achievement First School, 403 James Street, New Haven, CT 06513.
I met Ron thru my husband, Peter Spodick. Ron always made certain that any time you spent with him was planned out with every single little detail perfectly executed (or there would be hell to pay!) to ensure you had a wonderful time spent with him. He had pride in his way of doing things. He knew exactly how and what he wanted, every event planned, and made sure things were perfect. It was his way of life, from what I observed. It is sad that the attention to the way he wanted this event in his life will not be done in the the way he wished. I know this will be an extreme disappointment to him, since he even had this monumental event planned in advance so it would be the perfect affair for all of those who loved and cared about him. It was to be done with style and class, just as he lived his life. Like the champagne glasses he gave us for our wedding gift, in the signature baby blue box,white ribbon, from Tiffanys, which I still have today. I think of him everytime I reach in my cabinet and see them. Peter and I spent time with Ron in New York, when he first started working for New Line Cinemas. I remember going to the party with him at the Limelight and meeting Pierce Brosnan, who was starring in his first role as James Bond. We would go to Trader Vics and I would leave with a necklace of gardenias that would be floating in a drink that I can’t remember the name of, it’s been so long. Ron also did everything first class, the limos to The Mudd Club, Limelight, and many other fine restaurants. A truly class act, we (Peter, Sara. and Elizabeth) will remember him fondly and miss him greatly.
I met Ron when he was at New Line. Ron was a good person and always had an ubundance of funny stories to tell. He loved being in the biz and he had a great following of friends on both coasts. He will be missed by many.
I knew Ron when he lived in NYC. He certainly was a singular individual and I carry hs memory to this day. Prayers, buddy.
Mon, Sep 26 at 11:42 AM, I wrote: Now deceased, my high-society-adjacent friend Ronald Wentworth Wanless introduced me (circa 1980?) to freshly-made-to-order Gazpacho. Yummmmmy! When nursing his frequent Sunday morning hangovers (preceded by an all-night romp at Studio 54 & Crisco Disco), Ron would take John and I to a small Italian restaurant in the heart of Greenwich Village, just before it got too-darn-busy at noon, to obtain both their Gazpacho and one other “gray-matter-reviving delicacy,” as he called both menu items. He also had one or two Bloody Mary’s, while nursing himself back to Earth-1. The other made-to-order item was some type of raw cow meat — likely carefully-and-lengthily-aged Filet Mignon — which was sliced entirely so-so-razor-thin, and served with some type of dipping sauce; I think the dipping sauce had sour cream, mayonnaise, horseradish, and green+pink ground peppercorns. Possibly, there was also a dash of Worcestershire sauce in the dip, as well. MMMM-MMMMMM, kpn