By Aaron Crouch

Samuel Goldwyn Jr., the heir to a Hollywood dynasty and a movie executive who made a name for himself in his own right, has died. He was 88.

He died of congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son, film and TV producer John Goldwyn, told The New York Times.

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His Samuel Goldwyn Company, founded in 1979, pioneered the business model for indie productions by exploiting low budgets and guerrilla marketing tactics. He was known for championing promising directors early in their careers, including Ang Lee (The Wedding Banquet) and Kenneth Branagh (Henry V). He received a Best Picture Oscar nomination in 2004 as a producer of the Russell Crowe swashbuckler Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

The annual Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards are named for his father, who started them in 1955 at UCLA to encourage young film, stage and television writers at all University of California campuses.

Goldwyn was born in Sept. 7, 1926, the son of Samuel Goldwyn. In 1924, his father’s Goldwyn Pictures was acquired by Metro Pictures Corp., which became Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Later, Goldwyn Sr. produced such landmark films as Dodsworth (1936), Wuthering Heights (1939), The Pride of the Yankees (1941), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), Guys and Dolls (1955), and his final film, Porgy and Bess (1959).

Survivors include his sons John Goldwyn, the film and TV producer who this week was tapped to join Discovery Channel, and actor-director Tony Goldwyn, who stars as the U.S. president in ABC’s Scandal.