Los Angeles ? Ted Ashley, who catapulted Warner Bros. into a movie powerhouse in the 1970s with hits such as “The Exorcist,” “All the President’s Men,” “Dirty Harry” and “Superman,” has died. He was 80.

Ashley died Saturday in New York from acute leukemia, his widow, Page Cuddy Ashley, said Sunday.

Ted Ashley, left, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Warner Bros., and Frank Sinatra, right, present Jack L. Warner with a silver plaque at a tribute dinner at the studio in Los Angeles in this Nov. 21, 1969, file photo. Ashley, who generated a string of hit movies for Warner Bros. in the 1970s, died Saturday at age 80.

Ashley, who was chairman and chief executive of the Hollywood studio from 1969-80, generated blockbusters and record profits that turned the once-drab studio into a model of success.

The former talent agency head also mentored a new crop of studio executives who have ruled Hollywood for decades.

In the early 1970s, Ashley teamed with Frank Wells, who later became chief of Walt Disney Co., and John Calley, current chairman of Sony Pictures, to create such landmark films as “A Clockwork Orange,” “A Star Is Born,” “Blazing Saddles,” Chariots Of Fire,” “Deliverance,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “The Goodbye Girl,” “Klute,” “Oh, God!” “The Outlaw Josey Wales,” “Summer of ’42,” “Towering Inferno,” and “What’s Up Doc?”

Under his direction, Warner Bros. was responsible for the box office successes of Clint Eastwood, Barbra Streisand and the directorial ascendancy of Stanley Kubrick.

“The studio had been losing money year after year, and the first year we go there, I think the studio made $35 million, which was a lot of money,” Calley said in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Hardworking and low-key, Ashley thrived on nurturing talent.

He started working for the William Morris Agency at age 15. By 23, he had created his own talent firm, Ashley Famous Agency, whose clients included playwrights Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller, singer Perry Como, and actors Allen Fount and Henry Youngman.

The agency later became known for packaging and selling network television shows including “The Danny Kaye Show,” “The Doris Day Show,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Get Smart,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” “Star Trek,” “Dr. Kildare, “Tarzan,” “Name That Tune,” and “The Twilight Zone.”

One of Ashley’s theatrical hits was the “Woodstock” music documentary, which grossed $13 million.

It was Ashley’s association with Steve Ross, then a parking lot and funeral home mogul who had just acquired Warner Bros., that transformed the movie industry.

In 1969, Ashley helped Ross’ Kinney Corp. acquire Warner Bros. Ashley was named chairman and chief executive and his talent agency was spun off to avoid any conflicts of interest.

“There was always a special bond between Ted and Steve because that had been their thing together, they built it,” said Ashley’s widow.

Ashley reportedly earned a $200,000 annual salary plus six-figure bonuses through the mid-1970s, and got another $2.7 million in Warner stock.

In 1975, he reportedly fired his assistant, David Geffen, after just a year on the job. Geffen is a founder of the DreamWorks studio.

By 1976, Ashley had brought in David L. Wolper, who went on to produce some of television’s most-watched miniseries’ including “Roots,” and “The Thorn Birds.”

He served as chief executive until 1981, when he named as his successors Robert Daley and Terry Semel. He moved to New York but continued to serve as vice chairman until 1988.

Ashley was a board member of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a member of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a founder of the America Film Institute.