Picker began his movie career at United Artists in 1956, working in advertising and publicity. By 1961 he was an assistant to Arthur Krim, the president. Picker helped bring Tom Jones to United Artists in 1963. The film received four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Tony Richardson. In 1964 Picker accepted the award on behalf of Tony Richardson, who was not in attendance. By the late 1960s, Picker was managing United Artists Records.
In 1973, Picker left United Artists to form his own production company, Two Roads Productions, and produced Juggernaut and Lenny in 1974 and Smile in 1975. Lenny became a critical success and was nominated for six Academy Awards. In 1976 Picker then became President of Motion Pictures at Paramount but served for only a few years, during which he helped develop or greenlight Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and the 1980 Academy Award winner, Ordinary People. Upon leaving Paramount in 1979, Picker partnered with comedian Steve Martin to produce that year's The Jerk, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid in 1982, and The Man With Two Brains in 1983. In the mid 1980s, Picker took over as President of Feature Films at Lorimar Productions, developing and supervising the films S.O.B., Being There, and Escape to Victory. Hired in 1985 by Columbia Pictures to serve as president of production, Picker greenlit Hope and Glory, School Daze, Vice Versa, Punchline, and True Believer. By the mid 1980s, Picker was independently producing again. He worked with Harry Belafonte to produce Beat Street and also produced a remake of Stella Dallas called Stella, starring Bette Midler.
1993 to 2000s
Picker produced The Saint of Fort Washington for Warner Bros. in 1993 and The Crucible for Twentieth Century Fox in 1996. In 1997, Picker became president of Hallmark Entertainment Productions Worldwide to oversee the company's objective of expanding into feature films. From 2004 to 2008, Picker served as chairman of The Producers Guild of America for the East. Picker's memoir about his career in the film industry, Musts, Maybes and Nevers, was released in 2013.
He was married to photographer Sandra Jetton and they had two daughters Caryn and Pam. They lived in New York City. Picker's sister is Jean Picker Firstenberg, past CEO and Director of the American Film Institute. His uncle, Arnold Picker, was also an executive vice-president at United Artists. On April 20, 2019, Picker died in New York City from colon cancer at the age of 87. He was survived by his wife, Sandra, his two daughters and his sister.
