Lanesville, MA — Julie Lawless Wrinn, a local painter and visual artist, who as the former Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Film Bureau helped turn the state into a center for movie making, died unexpectedly at her art studio in Lanesville on December 1, 2012. She was 61.
Born in Boston and raised in Belmont, Julie was a graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., where she earned the school’s prestigious Philosophy Prize, edited the student newspaper, and played drums in a local rock-and-roll band.
Julie attended Boston College Law School before pursuing a career in film and the arts. She studied at Emerson College and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design; acted in summer repertory at Dartmouth College; managed props for the Lakes Region Playhouse in Gilford, N.H; served as the first female film editor at Boston’s TV-38; and worked as assistant director for that station’s Red Sox and Bruins broadcasts.
Julie later became the Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Film Bureau, which she helped to establish and expand. She was most proud of securing the movie The Witches of Eastwick, when, as the Bureau’s Acting Director, she convinced the production team to film in Massachusetts instead of Rhode Island. The ensuing protest by local witches led to her appearance on ABC World News Tonight.
In addition to having full responsibility for award- winning national advertising campaigns, Julie roamed the state scouting locations and persuading officials and residents to welcome movie productions to their towns. Some of the films she brought to Massachusetts include The Verdict, Hanky Panky, Common Ground, and The Good Mother. She also secured the television series Cheers and Spenser: For Hire.
In the early 1990s, Julie turned her attention full time to creating art. She painted in oils and sculpted in clay. She also loved to make small, multi-medium wreaths for her family members and friends. When her art materials began to consume her home in Lynn, she moved her work to a tiny cottage studio overlooking
Ipswich Bay in Lanesville.
Julie was a voracious reader and had a lifelong fascination with the intersection of philosophy, religion, and quantum physics. She enjoyed reading about world religions and viewing documentaries on science and the universe. She was convinced that we all move on to a new life of peace and positive energy.
Julie was the beloved wife for 31 years of Joe Wrinn of Lynn, Mass., the former longtime director of the Harvard University Office of News and Public Affairs. In addition to her husband, Julie leaves her brother, Thomas W. Lawless, Esq., of Belmont; her brother-in-law Bill Wrinn of Gloucester, his wife Linda, and nephews Corey, Myles and Jami Wrinn of Rockport, and niece Velia Wrinn of Gloucester. She also leaves her godsons Kyle and Ryan Barch of Ludlow and numerous cousins, dear friends and former colleagues.
ARRANGEMENTS: Funeral services were held on Monday, December 10, at St. Joseph Church in Belmont, Mass. Contributions in Julie’s memory may be made to CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) at 8181 Professional Place, Suite 150, Landover, MD 20785 or at www.chadd.org.
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