Stanley R. Jaffe, who became president of Paramount at 29, then left after just a few years to become an Oscar-winning producer of films like “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Fatal Attraction” and “The Accused,” died on March 10 at his home in Rancho Mirage, CA. He was 84.

Mr. Jaffe was known as a hands-on producer, and his work on “Kramer vs. Kramer” (1979), a searing divorce drama, showed why. The movie was based on a 1977 novel of the same name by Avery Corman, and he bought the rights immediately after it was published. The film was a commercial and critical success. Along with the Oscar for Best Picture, it won for best actor (Dustin Hoffman); best supporting actress (Meryl Streep); and best director and best adapted screenplay (both for Robert Benton).

Mr. Jaffe was known as a consummate Hollywood executive, but he felt a deep personal connection to his films. “I’m vulnerable to a picture not working because it’s something I really care about,” he told The Christian Science Monitor in 1982. “It’s not just 12 reels or two pounds of film. It’s something I believed in.”