Rita Hollingsworth, a longtime publicist for entertainment clients and non-profit organizations, died Nov. 16 in Los Angeles. She was 61.
Her husband Jeff Hollingsworth said she had suffered a intracerebral brain hemorrhage.
When working at the Lee Solters Company, she represented clients including Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Liza Minnelli and Neil Diamond, as well as the Carousel of Hope and Race to Erase MS with Barbara and Nancy Davis.
After founding publicity firm RMH Media, she worked with directors including Robert Altman, Mike Figgis, Alan Rudolph, Michael Radford, Tim Hutton and Chen Kaige, bringing their films to Cannes, Toronto, Sundance and other festivals.
RMH also represented clients including bestselling author Reyna Grande, the Angelus Student Film Festival, the Anthony & Jeannie Pritzker Family Foundation, Foster Care Counts, artworxLA and St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, where she was a key strategist for the large senior nutrition program.
RMH Media is working with filmmaker Matthew Solomon on his documentary “Reimagining Safety” and with producer Catherine Gray and actress Sharon Gless, whose documentary “Show Her the Money” won several festival awards and will be embarking on a 50-city tour.
Born in East Los Angeles, Hollingsworth received a BA from Whittier College and a double MA in Japanese Language and Diplomacy from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. She lived in Tokyo, where she conducted research focusing on cultural exchange, and then had leadership roles in several civil rights organizations including MANAA, organizing with Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition against companies including McDonald’s, NBC and Paramount protesting anti-Asian hate and media bias.
She is survived by her husband and business partner Jeffrey.
