Jim Cantalupo, 60; Led Turnaround at McDonald’s Corp.

Jim Cantalupo, the chairman and chief executive of McDonald’s Corp. who orchestrated a turnaround of the fast-food giant after overseeing the proliferation of its restaurants worldwide in the 1980s and ‘90s, died of a heart attack Monday. He was 60.

Cantalupo was stricken in Orlando, where McDonald’s was holding its international franchisees convention. The company said he suffered the heart attack at his hotel just after 4 a.m. and died at a hospital a short time later.

McDonald’s spokeswoman Anna Rozenich said she was not aware of Cantalupo having had a previous heart attack or health problems.

“Jim was a brilliant man who brought tremendous leadership, energy and passion to his job,” said Andrew J. McKenna, the presiding director of the McDonald’s board. “He made an indelible mark on McDonald’s system.”

A three-decade veteran of the Oak Brook, Ill.-based hamburger giant, Cantalupo returned from a brief retirement to take over the top post in January 2003 in a management shake-up. McDonald’s had struggled through two-plus years of sagging U.S. sales and had reported its first quarterly loss, for the last three months of 2002.

Cantalupo was born in Chicago, the eldest son of an optometrist. He graduated from the University of Illinois, where he initially studied architecture but switched to accounting.

After college, he spent eight years with Arthur Young & Co. He joined McDonald’s as controller in 1974. He was promoted to vice president in 1975, senior vice president in 1981, Chicago district manager and zone manager for the northeastern U.S. before moving to the international job.

He is survived by his wife, JoAnn; two children; and three grandchildren.