Los Angeles, July 10 -- Former Hollywood executive Harris Katleman has an eclectic, five-decade track record that could only be the result of skill, moxie and luck.

He championed the Oscar-winning film adaptation of the WWII novel "From Here to Eternity," made the impresarios behind "The Price is Right" wealthier and helped "The Simpsons" become an unlikely TV wunderkind. His platinum-level business circle included media tycoons Rupert Murdoch, Robert Iger and Kirk Kerkorian.

"I'm consistently, in my own psyche, amazed at what I accomplished," Katleman, 90, said in an interview about his new memoir, which details his career highlights and the demanding, colorful industry he navigated. The book takes its title from an exchange with Kerko...