During a volatile period in the late '60s and early '70s, former B-movie actor Evans became the unlikely head of Paramount Pictures. His tenure produced some of the best films of that era, including "The Godfather," "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown." It also produced tales of Evans erratic behavior, womanizing ways, rampant drug use and hypochondria.

The native New Yorker was discovered by actress Norma Shearer. After a few films, he rated himself a sub-par actor and moved into producing, selling his share in his brother's garment-industry business Evan-Picone to finance his new career. His glory days at Paramount came crashing down in the 80s, first with a drug conviction, then with the financial and critical fiasco of the Evans-backed Coppola film "The Cotton Club." Along the way, he collected wives such as actress Ali McGraw, Phyllis George and Catherine Oxenberg—a union that lasted ten days in 1998.

Evans extravagant style (large designer eyeglasses, deeply tanned skin, long sculpted hairstyle) and relentless egoism have frequently been the source of satire. He was the model of Robert Vaughn's character in Blake Edward's film "S.O.B." and Dustin Hoffman's role in "Wag the Dog."

Since the mid-90s, Evans has made a comeback of sorts by blatantly flaunted his life story as an example of the outrageousness of fate, fame and power in Hollywood. His (some say, high subjective) autobiography "The Kid Stays in the Picture" came out in 1994. An unorthodox documentary by the same name came out in 2002, followed by a 2003 Comedy Central series called "Kid Notorious."