Roger B. Smith, who led General Motors Corp. in the 1980s and was the subject of Michael Moore's documentary "Roger & Me," has died at age 82.
Smith died Thursday in the Detroit area from an unsuspected illness.
He was appointed chairman and chief executive in 1981, and led the world's largest automaker until his retirement in 1990.
During Smith's tenure as chief executive, Detroit-based GM introduced its first front-wheel-drive midsize cars, formed a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. to manufacture cars in California, created the Saturn brand and acquired Electronic Data Systems and Hughes Aircraft Corp.
Moore has become an Oscar-winning documentary maker, but he became famous with "Roger & Me," which explored how GM's plant closings and layoffs affected his hometown of Flint.
The 1989 film chronicles Moore's unsuccessful attempts to interview Smith about the devastation in Flint, although magazine articles and documentaries have alleged that Smith granted interviews to Moore prior to the film's release.
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