David Brown (producer) editor of "Cosmopolitan" before his wife, Helen Gurley Brown, joined the magazine. In 1951, the producer Darryl F. Zanuck hired Brown to head the story department at Zanuck's studio, 20th Century-Fox. Brown eventually rose to become executive vice president of creative operations. He and Richard D. Zanuck, Darryl's son, left Fox in 1971 for Warner Bros., but the following year they set out to form their own production company. The caper film "The Sting" (1973) starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford was a Zanuck/Brown "presentation". In 1974, the company produced, along with Universal Pictures, "The Sugarland Express", Steven Spielberg's directorial
William Gurley his interest and the business was renamed W.& L.E. Gurley. The firm still exists today as Gurley Precision Instruments. William Gurley was involved in several local organizations. For many years he was connected with the YMCA, and in 1851 was elected its president. He served as alderman from 1860 to 1864, and as fire commissioner he helped to improve fire prevention systems in major cities. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Rensselaer Co., 1st D.) in 1867. In 1868, he was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to serve on a commission with Prof. Joseph