Veteran movie marketer Richard Del Belso dies at 76

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – A pioneer of public test-screenings for Hollywood studio films, veteran movie marketer Richard Del Belso has died.

Husband Mark Winkler said Monday that Del Belso died March 5 from lung cancer. He was 76.

Born in Albany, New York, Del Belso came to Los Angeles in 1976 to work for Universal Pictures. Four years later, he moved to Warner Bros., where he would spend the next 25 years conducting test screenings and other audience research for such Oscar winners as “Chariots of Fire” and “Million Dollar Baby” and hit franchises including “Lethal Weapon,” ”The Matrix” and “Harry Potter.”

Besides his husband of 35 years, Del Belso is survived by a sister, two brothers-in-law and a nephew. A celebration of Del Belso’s life is set for March 23 at Hollywood Forever cemetery.