Richard Stermer, one of the longest-serving employees of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is retiring, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
For LA-based members of the Academy, that’s very big news. Why? Because Stermer, since 1994, has been a fixture at the 1,000-seat Samuel Goldwyn Theater within the Academy’s Beverly Hills headquarters — initially as deputy theater manager, then as theater manager and, since January, as senior theater manager — presiding over everything from weekend screenings for members to early-morning Oscar nominations announcements to premieres hosted by studios who rented the venue from the Academy.
The friendly and unassuming Stermer, who is also a part-time actor, songwriter, composer and voice artist, has also been corralled, on occasion, to make voiceover declarations at Academy events including the aforementioned Oscar nominations gatherings, which attract hundreds of feisty press and publicists, as well as Oscar Nominee Luncheons, Sci-Tech programs and more.
Stermer’s predecessor as the Academy’s theater manager, under whom he initially served, was Robert Rigamonti, who died suddenly in 2013, at which point Stermer was promoted.
Ric Robertson, who was the Academy’s executive administrator from 1989 through 2011 and COO from 2011 through 2013, tells THR, “Richard’s amazing. He’s an excellent manager, well-organized, and always on top of things. I would go to screenings and watch him, prior to the film, walk up and down the aisles of the Goldwyn greeting people and asking them about their kids or grandkids. I like to call him the Mayor of the Goldwyn. He was the ultimate host, always friendly and making people feel welcome. It was really remarkable.”
Stermer, in a characteristically self-effacing move, declined to comment for this piece.