A leading figure in Hollywood, Ziskin became the first woman to produce the Academy Awards telecast alone in 2002. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004 and was behind the Stand Up to Cancer research movement in 2008.
Ziskin, along with Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the Noreen Fraser Foundation and Ellen Ziffren, announced the creation of Stand Up to Cancer. The initiative is intended to enable cutting-edge research targeting all types of cancer led by "dream teams" of doctors.
"Laura was one of the most courageous people I've ever known. Her fearlessness in the face of this relentless killer inspires everyone on the SU2C team to redouble our efforts to make cancer history," Couric said in her tribute to the producer.
With the Spider-Man films at Sony, Ziskin became involved in one of the most successful film franchises in history.
Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 (2004) have grossed more than USD 1.5 billion worldwide, and Spider-Man 3 (2007) became the highest-grossing film in Sony's history with his worldwide take of more than USD 890 million. A rebooted Spider-Man film, also produced by Ziskin, just wrapped shooting in May for release next year, the Hollywood Reporter said.
In 2007, Ziskin produced the Academy Awards for the second time and instituted the first "green" Oscar ceremony.
She also produced movies like 'Murphy's Romance', 'No Way Out' and served as an executive producer of Julia Roberts starrer 'Pretty Woman'.
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