Steely Dawn Calls It a Day

Dawn Steel, the first woman to run a Hollywood studio, knew she would have only a short time to prove herself in that notoriously tenuous job. But when she quit last week after two years as president of Columbia Pictures, she had made her mark. After taking over the job from prickly British producer David Puttnam, who had alienated Hollywood's power brokers, Steel put Columbia back on track by enlisting such top names as director Mike Nichols and megastar Michael Douglas.

A former merchandising director for Penthouse, Steel rose to production chief at Paramount in 1985. At Columbia she fired a few blanks, notably the $23 million Casualties of War. But she scored major hits with When Harry Met Sally . . . (gross revenues: $92 million) and Ghostbusters II ($112 million), pushing Columbia from last place among the major studios in 1988 to No. 3 last year. Even so, Steel, 43, figured her job was in jeopardy when Sony bought Columbia last September and installed producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters as co-chairmen. She departs with a pay package said to be worth $7 million. While her abrasiveness has earned her the label "Steely Dawn," her star may keep on rising. Among the studios reportedly negotiating with her are Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros.