The departed: the filmmakers we lost in 2019

Late 2018

Thomas Cripps, 86: scholar who examined the history of African-Americans in the cinema through such books as Slow to Fade to Black and Making Movies Black.

John Francis Lane, 89: film critic and journalist who championed Italian cinema and culture and had cameos in films for Fellini, Pasolini, et al.

Richard Marks, 75: versatile film editor whose credits range from The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now to Broadcast News and Dick Tracy.

Al Reinert, 71: filmmaker who explored NASA’s lunar Apollo program in his documentary For All Mankind and was a screenwriter on Ron Howard’s Apollo 13.

 

Actors

Julie Adams, 92: leading lady most famous as the object of the Gill-Man’s obsession in Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Danny Aiello, 86: excelled at working-class tough guys (Once upon a Time in America; Do the Right Thing) but showed off his comic skills in Moonstruck.

Chelo Alonso, 85: Cuban actress and dancer who played exotic temptresses in Italian sword-and-sandal pictures (Goliath and the Barbarians; Son of Samson).

Bibi Andersson, 83: whose long association with Ingmar Bergman saw her roles evolve from youthful innocence (Wild Strawberries) to the more challenging Nurse Alma in Persona.

• Bibi Andersson obituary: the Ingmar Bergman actor with the smile and steel

Anémone, 68: French actor who emerged from the theater company Le Splendid (Le Père Noël est une ordure; Le Grand chemin).

Omero Antonutti, 84: played two very different fathers in Padre Padrone and El Sur, a Tuscan peasant in The Night of San Lorenzo and Aguirre searching for gold in Saura’s El Dorado.

René Auberjonois, 79: was part of Altman’s stock company (McCabe & Mrs. Miller), voiced Chef Louis in The Little Mermaid and played Odo on TV’s Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Claudine Auger, 78: starred in films for Pierre Étaix (Yoyo) and Mario Bava (A Bay of Blood) and played Domino in Thunderball.

Maurice Bénichou, 76: French actor noted for his supporting performances in Amélie and the films of Michael Haneke (Caché).

Paul Benjamin, 84: character actor who was a bank robber in Across 110th Street, Leadbelly’s father in Leadbelly and part of the streetcorner Greek chorus in Do the Right Thing.

Verna Bloom, 80: made her debut in Medium Cool and is also remembered for her roles in High Plains Drifter and National Lampoon’s Animal House.

Tony Britton, 95: debonair leading man turned supporting player (Operation Amsterdam; Sunday Bloody Sunday).

Diahann Carroll, 84: actor who was a pathbreaking performer on TV (Julia) and a less frequent presence in the cinema (Paris Blues; Claudine).

Seymour Cassel, 84: actor who enlivened films for indie directors from Cassavetes to Wes Anderson (Faces; Minnie and Moskowitz; Rushmore).

• Seymour Cassel obituary: a winning American loser

Carol Channing, 97: exuberant Broadway legend (Hello, Dolly!) who made only a handful of films but scored an Oscar nomination for Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Valentina Cortese, 96: Italian actor equally at home in European and Hollywood productions (Thieves’ Highway; Le Amiche; Day for Night).

Doris Day, 97: one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars and top box office attractions (Calamity Jane; Love Me or Leave Me; The Man Who Knew Too Much; Pillow Talk).

• Doris Day obituary: an actor of graceful gumption

Freda Dowie, 91: veteran TV actor whose rare film roles include her highly praised performance as an abused mother in Distant Voices, Still Lives.

Billy Drago, 73: prolific player of sadistic villains who memorably gunned down Sean Connery as Capone deputy Frank Nitti in The Untouchables.

Hannelore Elsner, 76: top star of German cinema (No Place to Go; Cherry Blossoms) and television (The Commissioner).

Richard Erdman, 93: had some of his best film roles in the 1950s (Cry Danger; Stalag 17) and continued acting, largely on TV, into his 90s.

Albert Finney, 82: who was widely admired by his peers as a versatile actors’ actor (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning; Tom Jones; Murder on the Orient Express; Under the Volcano).

• Albert Finney obituary: an icon who stayed true

Peter Fonda, 79: helped define 1960s’ counterculture with Easy Rider, made his directorial debut with The Hired Hand and had his comeback as an actor with Ulee’s Gold.

Robert Forster, 78: had early success starring in Medium Cool and then, after many lean years, rebounded spectacularly as bail bondsman Max Cherry in Jackie Brown.

Bruno Ganz, 77: played an ailing, reluctant hitman in The American Friend, an angel who wishes to be mortal in Wings of Desire and Hitler in his bunker in Downfall.

Eddie ‘Manoy’ Garcia, 90: actor (Tubog sa Ginto) and director (Atsay) who was among the most honored and prolific figures in Philippine cinema.

Nancy Gates, 93: leading lady, mostly of routine B-pictures, who occasionally received more prominent roles (World without End; Comanche Station).

Sid Haig, 80: played a long line of nasty villains and henchmen and was a familiar face to fans of horror and exploitation (The Big Bird Cage; House of 1000 Corpses).

Susan Harrison, 80: actor whose brief career was highlighted by her performance as J.J. Hunsecker’s naïve kid sister in Sweet Smell of Success.

Rutger Hauer, 75: Dutch actor who played memorable villains and had the occasional lead role (Soldier of Orange; Blade Runner; The Legend of the Holy Drinker).

David Hedison, 92: starred in the title role of 1958’s The Fly and twice played James Bond’s CIA ally Felix Leiter (Live and Let Die; Licence to Kill).

Katherine Helmond, 89: scene-stealing comic actress of TV sitcoms (Soap) and occasionally films (Brazil; Garry Marshall’s Overboard).

Del Henney, 83: spent most of his career on television but gave a memorable performance as Charlie Venner in Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs.

George Hilton, 85: Uruguayan actor who achieved fame in Italy as a star of Westerns and gialli (They Call Me Hallelujah; The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail).

Glyn Houston, 93: found steady film work in supporting parts in the 1950s & 60s, but thereafter largely concentrated on TV (The Cruel Sea; Solo for Sparrow).

Freddie Jones, 91: character actor who was the monster in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, the freakshow owner in The Elephant Man and the journalist in And the Ship Sails On.

Anna Karina, 79: became an icon of the nouvelle vague through her seven features with Godard and also had starring roles for Rivette, Visconti and Fassbinder.

• Anna Karina obituary: the French New Wave in the flesh

Jeremy Kemp, 84: actor whose imposing stature often found him cast as aristocrats or officers (The Blue Max; Darling Lili; Angels & Insects).

Paul Koslo, 74: character actor who played Charlton Heston’s ally in The Omega Man, the mayor in Heaven’s Gate and an assortment of villains (Mr. Majestyk).

Kyo Machiko, 95: actor who was one of the most recognizable faces of Japanese cinema to Western audiences of the 1950s (Rashomon; Ugetsu; Gate of Hell; Floating Weeds).

• Kyo Machiko obituary: the last of Japan’s Golden stars

Marie Laforêt, 80: French actress who reached greater stardom as a singer (Purple Noon; The Girl with the Golden Eyes).

Mable Lee, 97: singer and jazz dancer who was dubbed the “Queen of the Soundies” for her show-stopping appearances in 1940s’ musical shorts.

Ron Leibman, 82: shined brightest on the stage, but had a solid career in films as a supporting actor (Slaughterhouse-Five; Norma Rae).

Virginia Leith, 94: had prominent roles for Kubrick (Fear and Desire) and Richard Fleischer (Violent Saturday) and played the decapitated lead role in The Brain That Wouldn’t Die.

Carol Lynley, 77: teen actor (Blue Denim) who had a sometimes rocky transition to more mature parts but had success with Bunny Lake Is Missing and The Poseidon Adventure.

Tania Mallet, 77: model and actor who made a lasting impression in her sole film role as the vengeance-seeking Tilly Masterson in Goldfinger.

Jean-Pierre Marielle, 87: actor who was long one of France’s most popular movie stars (Les Galettes de Pont-Aven; Tous les matins du monde).

Jamshid Mashayekhi, 84: star actor of Iranian cinema, before and after the revolution (Prince Ehtejab; Gharizadeh’s The Grandfather).

Peter Mayhew, 74: actor who played Chewbacca, Han Solo’s loyal co-pilot, in the Star Wars movies from the 1977 original through The Force Awakens.

John McEnery, 75: played Mercutio in Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet and the title role in Bartleby but was thereafter largely seen in smaller film roles.

Fay McKenzie, 101: made her film debut as an infant in 1918, was leading lady to Gene Autry for five pictures and played the hostess in Blake Edwards’s The Party.

Bronco McLoughlin, 80: stuntman who was Edward Woodward’s double in the burning climax of The Wicker Man and the priest strapped to the crucifix at the opening of The Mission.

Sylvia Miles, 94: character actor known for her notoriously eccentric performances (Midnight Cowboy; 1975’s Farewell, My Lovely).

Dick Miller, 90: prolific character actor who was a staple in the films of Roger Corman and Joe Dante (A Bucket of Blood; Gremlins).

Marie-José Nat, 79: French actor who had some of her best roles for director-husband Michel Drach (Elise, or Real Life; Les Violons du bal).

Muriel Pavlow, 97: leading lady most prominent in the 1950s (Doctor in the House; Reach for the Sky).

Michael J. Pollard, 80: quirky, perennially boyish-looking actor, latterly mostly in comic support (Bonnie and Clyde; Dirty Little Billy; Scrooged).

Anna Quayle, 86: character actor often in scene-stealing comic parts (A Hard Day’s Night; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).

Shane Rimmer, 89: Canadian actor based in England who was often cast as Americans (Dr. Strangelove; The Spy Who Loved Me) and was the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.

Allene Roberts, 90: ingénue of the postwar years (The Red House; Knock on Any Door).

Isabel Sarli, 89: who was Argentina’s top screen sex symbol for over 20 years with a series of sexploitation films (Thunder among the Leaves; Fuego).

Édith Scob, 81: enjoyed a long career in French cinema (Buñuel’s The Milky Way; Holy Motors) but will forever be identified as Christiane in Eyes without a Face.

• Edith Scob obituary: an ethereal actress with a rich career in French art cinema

Peggy Stewart, 95: frequent leading lady of B-westerns and serials, especially for Republic Pictures (Sheriff of Las Vegas; The Phantom Rider).

Rip Torn, 88: irascible, hell-raising actor (Payday; Cross Creek) who enjoyed an unexpected comeback in comedies, both on film (Men in Black) and TV (The Larry Sanders Show).

• Rip Torn obituary: talent got trouble

Jan-Michael Vincent, 73: leading man of films (Bite the Bullet; Big Wednesday) and TV (Airwolf) whose career was overshadowed by his struggles with drugs and alcohol.

Anzac Wallace, 73: Māori actor and trade unionist who starred in such seminal New Zealand films as Utu and Mauri.

Morgan Woodward, 93: supporting actor known for playing the silent chain gang boss whose eyes are forever hidden behind mirrored sunglasses in Cool Hand Luke.

 

Animation

Bruce Bickford, 72: stop-motion filmmaker whose work was admired among animation fans, including his collaborations with Frank Zappa (Baby Snakes; Prometheus’ Garden).

Hu Jinqing, 83: filmmaker who was a central figure in Chinese paper-cut animation (The Fight between the Snipe and the Clam; The Cat and the Rat).

Ram Mohan, 88: leading Indian animator since the 1950s (You Said It; Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama).

Suzan Pitt, 75: filmmaker of experimental shorts who tackled subjects once considered taboo for animation (Asparagus; Joy Street).

• Anima anime: Suzan Pitt’s wild psyches

Rosto, 50: Dutch director, musician and graphic novelist whose award-winning films were a regular presence at animation festivals (The Monster of Nix; Thee Wreckers tetralogy).

Takemoto Yasuhiro, 47: anime director (The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya) who was among the 36 people killed in the arson attack on Japan’s Kyoto Animation studio.

Richard Williams, 86: filmmaker (1971’s A Christmas Carol; The Thief and the Cobbler) who received his widest recognition for his innovative work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

• Richard Williams obituary: a half-hidden animation master

 

Cinematographers

Bruno de Keyzer, 69: French DP best known for photographing six films for Bertrand Tavernier from A Sunday in the Country to The Princess of Montpensier.

Ennio Guarnieri, 88: premiere Italian cinematographer who was a regular collaborator of Bolognini, De Sica, Wertmüller and Zeffirelli.

Pierre Lhomme, 89: cinematographer (Army of Shadows; Rappeneau’s Cyrano de Bergerac) who was a frequent collaborator of James Ivory and co-directed Marker’s Le Jolie mai.

Sándor Sára, 85: leading Hungarian cinematographer (Szabó’s Father; Ten Thousand Days) who was also notable as a director (The Upthrown Stone).

Jerzy Wójcik, 88: Polish cinematographer who shot such classics as Eroica, Ashes and Diamonds and Mother Joan of the Angels and later turned to directing.

 

Composers & Musicians

Martin Böttcher, 91: composer whose scores are among the most recognizable of popular German cinema of the 1950s & 60s (Die Halbstarken; Winnetou film series).

Michel Legrand, 86: prolific French composer much lauded for his popular film scores and songs (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; The Young Girls of Rochefort; Summer of ‘42).

• Michel Legrand obituary: an exceptional film composer with an ear for a hit

Vyacheslav Ovchinnikov, 82: Russian composer known internationally for his scores for Ivan’s Childhood, Andrei Rublev and Bondarchuk’s War and Peace.

Barrington Pheloung, 65: Australian composer for TV (Inspector Morse) and films (Truly Madly Deeply; Hilary and Jackie).

André Previn, 89: genre-defying music renaissance man who also worked extensively in films as a composer, conductor and music director (Gigi; Elmer Gantry; My Fair Lady).

 

Directors

Jean Beaudin, 80: leading voice of Canadian Quebec cinema (J.A. Martin Photographer; Being at Home with Claude).

Yannick Bellon, 95: French filmmaker of features, shorts and documentaries who often tackled social issues (L’Amour viole; L’Amour nu).

Andrew Berends, 46: documentary filmmaker who explored life in war-torn regions (The Blood of My Brother; Madina’s Dream).

Camille Billops, 85: artist, cultural archivist and filmmaker who made deeply personal documentaries with her husband, James Hatch (Suzanne, Suzanne; Finding Christa).

Jean-Claude Brisseau, 74: French filmmaker who courted controversy, both on-screen and off (Noce blanche; Exterminating Angels).

Ryszard Bugajski, 76: director whose best-known film, Interrogation, was banned by the Polish government for a decade before being released to wide acclaim.

Mel Chionglo, 73: production designer who became one of the Philippines’s most distinguished directors (Midnight Dancers; Burlesk King).

Larry Cohen, 82: independent writer-director whose films often blended horror, comedy and social satire (It’s Alive!; God Told Me To; Q).

Eva Dahr, 60: award-winning Norwegian writer-director who earned attention for her short films (Dolce vita; In Transit).

Georgiy Daneliya, 88: Soviet Georgian director, often of popular comedies (Walking the Streets of Moscow; Autumn Marathon).

Gustav Deutsch, 67: Austrian experimental filmmaker, often of found-footage works (Film ist. trilogy; Shirley: Visions of Reality).

Stanley Donen, 94: director of celebrated musicals (Singin’ in the Rain; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Funny Face) who branched out into other genres (Charade).

• Stanley Donen obituary: a master Hollywood expressionist
  Farewell, Stanley Donen, and thanks for the juice

Robert Frank, 94: influential photographer who increasingly focused his energies on filmmaking (Pull My Daisy; Cocksucker Blues; Candy Mountain).

James Frawley, 82: veteran TV director (The Monkees) whose occasional film work included the enduring family film The Muppet Movie.

Furuhata Yasuo, 84: Japanese director of action films and dramas, often starring Ken Takakura (Station; Railroad Man).

Claude Goretta, 89: leading Swiss filmmaker (The Invitation; The Lacemaker).

Barbara Hammer, 79: experimental filmmaker who was a pioneer of lesbian cinema (Dyketactics; Nitrate Kisses; A Horse Is Not a Metaphor).

• Barbara Hammer obituary: an experimental pioneer who put lesbian life on screen

Med Hondo, 82: France-based Mauritanian filmmaker who was at the forefront of African cinema (Soleil O; West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty; Sarraounia).

Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, 83: writer-director considered an innovator of Spanish horror, both of TV (Stories to Keep You Awake) and film (La Residencia; Who Can Kill a Child?).

Vojtech Jasny, 93: director who was an influence on the Czech New Wave (Desire; When the Cat Comes; All My Good Countrymen).

Girish Karnad, 81: playwright who also had an impact on Indian film as a director, actor and writer (Samskara; Kaadu; Utsav).

Marlen Khutsiev, 93: Soviet Georgian filmmaker prominent in the 1960s who continued working into the 2000s (I Am Twenty; July Rain).

Dušan Makavejev, 86: Serbian filmmaker whose provocative explorations of sex and politics often rattled the censors (Man Is Not a Bird; WR: Mysteries of the Organism; Montenegro).

• Dusan Makavejev obituary: the revolutionary ringmaster of Yugoslav film

Arthur Marks, 92: director-producer who scored with a series of low-budget hits, especially blaxploitation films (Detroit 9000; Friday Foster).

Jonas Mekas, 96: who had a deep influence on avant-garde cinema as a filmmaker, critic, magazine editor, distributor, archivist and mentor (Walden; Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania).

Jean-Pierre Mocky, 90: filmmaker and actor whose independent, low-budget films often satirized French life (Les Dragueurs; Le Miraculé).

John Llewellyn Moxey, 94: prolific director of TV and some noteworthy B-pictures (The City of the Dead; Circus of Fear).

Toni Myers, 75: Canadian producer, editor, writer and director for IMAX who was especially known for her space documentaries (The Dream Is Alive; Hubble 3D).

Georges Nasser, 91: pioneer of Lebanese cinema who twice competed at Cannes (Ila Ayn; The Small Stranger).

Vijaya Nirmala, 73: Indian actor-turned-director who was one of the world’s most prolific female filmmakers (Meena; Kavitha).

Peng Xiaolian, 66: filmmaker who was among the most prominent female members of China’s Fifth Generation (Women’s Story; Shanghai Story).

D.A. Pennebaker, 94: documentary filmmaker who played a critical role in the development of Direct Cinema (Primary; Dont Look Back; Monterey Pop; The War Room).

• D.A. Pennebaker obituary: the documentary pioneer who wrote life’s drama in lightning

Jocelyne Saab, 70: filmmaker who chronicled decades of war and upheaval, especially in her native Lebanon and her frequent home base Egypt (the Beirut trilogy; Dunia).

Carolee Schneemann, 79: feminist avant-garde performance artist, painter and filmmaker whose work often challenged the art-world establishment (Fuses; Kitch’s Last Meal).

Andrew Sinclair, 84: novelist who also wrote biographies of John Ford and Sam Spiegel, published classic screenplays and ventured into film directing (Under Milk Wood).

John Singleton, 51: director whose acclaimed debut film, Boyz N the Hood, placed him at the center of the revival of African-American cinema in the 1990s.

• John Singleton obituary: the b-boy who made Hollywood

Phil Solomon, 65: experimental filmmaker who often made use of existing footage, from Hollywood classics to newsreels to video games (Remains to Be Seen; American Falls).

Paul Turner, 73: director whose film Hedd Wyn was the first Welsh-language feature to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Agnès Varda, 90: irreverent filmmaker whose extraordinary seven-decade career stretched from La Pointe Courte to Varda by Agnès and was a continuing inspiration to new generations.

• Nick Roddick obituary: a journalist with a passion for the art and business of film

Václav Vorlíček, 88: Czech writer-director known for his fantasy films (Who Wants to Kill Jessie?; Three Wishes for Cinderella).

Peter Whitehead, 82: chronicled the cultural and countercultural revolutions of the 1960s (Charlie Is My Darling; Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London; The Fall).

• Peter Whitehead obituary: an alternative legend

Peter Wollen, 81: influential film theorist (Signs and Meaning in the Cinema), avant-garde filmmaker (Riddles of the Sphinx) and screenwriter (Antonioni’s The Passenger).

• Peter Wollen obituary: the maven of British film theory

Wu Yigong, 80: made his directorial debut in his 40s but became a major player in the Shanghai film scene (Evening Rain; My Memories of Old Beijing).

Franco Zeffirelli, 96: Italian director with an opulent style, whether it be opera or film (The Taming of the Shrew; Romeo and Juliet; La Traviata).

• Franco Zeffirelli obituary: a maestro of the opulent

 

Editors

Barry Malkin, 80: editor whose four-decade association with Francis Ford Coppola spanned eleven films from The Rain People to The Rainmaker.

Terry Rawlings, 85: sound editor-turned-film editor celebrated for his work on Chariots of Fire and with Ridley Scott (Alien; Blade Runner).

 

Producers & Executives

Ben Barenholtz, 83: exhibitor, distributor and producer who started the midnight-movie craze of the 1970s and was an early champion of David Lynch, John Sayles and the Coen brothers.

Frank Biondi Jr., 74: Viacom CEO who oversaw the acquisition of Paramount and also served as the chief of HBO and later Universal Studios.

Mag Bodard, 103: trailblazer who produced some of the essential French films of the 1960s (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg; Le Bonheur; Au Hasard Balthazar).

Artur Brauner, 100: prolific Polish-born producer who helped revive German film in the postwar years (The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse; The Garden of the Finzi-Continis).

Robert Evans, 89: larger-than-life producer and Paramount production chief who backed Rosemary’s Baby, The Godfather and Chinatown and wrote the colorful memoir The Kid Stays in the Picture.

David Foster, 90: producer who worked with Altman (McCabe & Mrs. Miller), Peckinpah (The Getaway) and Carpenter (The Thing).

Steve Golin, 64: produced films by such directors as Spike Jonze, Alejandro González Iñárritu, David Lynch and Jane Campion and won the Best Picture Oscar for Spotlight.

Edward Lewis, 99: producer (Seven Days in May; Missing) who successfully battled the studio to give proper credit to Dalton Trumbo on Spartacus, helping to end the blacklist.

Mildred Lewis, 98: producer and screenwriter, usually in collaboration with her husband Edward Lewis (Harold and Maude; Missing).

George Litto, 88: producer for Brian De Palma (Obsession; Blow Out) who was also an agent for Robert Altman, Melvin Van Peebles and a stable of blacklisted writers and directors.

Branko Lustig, 87: Croatian Holocaust survivor who went on to produce Schindler’s List as well as several films for Ridley Scott (Gladiator; Black Hawk Down).

Michael Lynne, 77: executive who helped turn New Line Cinema into a major industry player through a series of box office smashes, most notably The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Ron Miller, 85: executive and producer, long with Disney, whose tenure as the studio’s president and CEO included establishing Touchstone Pictures and the Disney Channel.

David V. Picker, 87: executive with various studios, especially United Artists, where he was instrumental in backing Dr. No, A Hard Day’s Night, Tom Jones and Woody Allen.

Eric Pleskow, 95: served as president of United Artists when the studio won three consecutive Best Picture Oscars, then co-founded and ran Orion Pictures, winning the award four more times.

Nik Powell, 69: game-changing figure in the industry as co-founder of Virgin Records, film producer and distributor with Stephen Woolley and director of the National Film and Television School.

• Nik Powell obituary: a rolling stone in the British film world
• In memory of Nik Powell: tributes to a legendary character in British cinema

Sidney Sheinberg, 84: longtime president of Universal who backed blockbusters like Back to the Future, battled Terry Gilliam over Brazil and mentored Steven Spielberg.

Mark Urman, 66: leading distributor of independent films, both with ThinkFilm and Paladin (Born into Brothels; Half Nelson).

Andrew Vajna, 74: Hungarian producer in Hollywood who also co-founded Carolco Pictures (Rambo films; Verhoeven’s Total Recall; Evita).

 

Screenwriters

John Briley, 94: American screenwriter who spent much of his career in the UK and achieved his greatest success with Richard Attenborough (Gandhi; Cry Freedom).

Gillian Freeman, 89: novelist and screenwriter who broke ground with The Leather Boys and also scripted the early transgender drama I Want What I Want.

Mardik Martin, 84: writer who was an early collaborator and associate of Martin Scorsese, dating back to their time at New York University (Mean Streets; Raging Bull).

Mark Medoff, 79: wrote the play and co-wrote the screenplay for Children of a Lesser God, which proved a landmark in the depiction of deaf culture.

Gordan Mihić, 80: Serbian screenwriter who collaborated with Emir Kusturica on Time of the Gypsies and Black Cat, White Cat.

Peter Nichols, 92: playwright who adapted his own work to the screen (A Day in the Death of Joe Egg; Privates on Parade) and also co-wrote Georgy Girl.

Alvin Sargent, 92: scriptwriter respected in Hollywood for his skill at adaptation, from Julia and Ordinary People to the Spider-Man movies.

William ‘Bill’ Wittliff, 79: screenwriter (The Black Stallion; The Perfect Storm) who adapted Larry McMurtry’s massive novel Lonesome Dove into an award-winning TV miniseries.

 

Set & Costume Designers

John W. Corso, 89: production designer for Coal Miner’s Daughter and nine films for John Hughes (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).

William J. Creber, 87: art director-production designer who brought to life Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes and the disaster pictures The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno.

Lawrence G. Paull, 81: production designer who helped create the visionary world of Blade Runner and also designed Back to the Future and Escape from L.A.

László Rajk, 70: Hungarian production designer, architect, dissident and politician (The Turin Horse; Son of Saul).

Piero Tosi, 92: Italian costume designer known for his focus on historical accuracy and association with Luchino Visconti (Senso; The Leopard; Death in Venice).

 

Sound & Special Effects

John Carl Buechler, 66: make-up effects artist and occasional director known for his contributions to 1980s & 90s horror (Re-Animator; Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood).

Matt Rose, 53: make-up artist and sculptor who learned his craft under Rick Baker and Stan Winston (Ed Wood; Del Toro’s Hellboy).

Gregg Rudloff, 63: sound mixer with more than 200 credits (The Matrix; Mad Max: Fury Road), including a dozen for Clint Eastwood (Flags of Our Fathers).

Dan Striepeke, 88: make-up artist who worked on Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes, turned George C. Scott into Patton and was Tom Hanks’s make-up man for almost twenty years.

 

Miscellaneous

Rudy Behlmer, 92: historian who was a leading authority on classical Hollywood and wrote or edited such books as Memo from David O. Selznick and Inside Warner Bros. 1935-1951.

Freddy Buache, 94: film archivist, historian and author who served as the director of the Cinémathèque Suisse from 1951 to 1996.

Jean Douchet, 90: French film critic, author and educator who was linked to Cahiers du cinéma during the key years of the nouvelle vague.

Thomas Elsaesser, 76: scholar who was significant in the development of film studies and authored such books as New German Cinema: A History.

Wayne Fitzgerald, 89: designer who created title sequences for films from the studio era (Pillow Talk) to New Hollywood (Bonnie and Clyde; Chinatown) and beyond (Nine to Five).

Philip Gips, 88: designer of classic movie posters, frequently in collaboration with Stephen Frankfurt (Rosemary’s Baby; Downhill Racer; Alien).

Richard Gregson, 89: talent agent, including for then-wife Natalie Wood, John Schlesinger and Alan Bates, who was also a producer (Downhill Racer) and screenwriter (The Angry Silence).

Ron Hutchinson, 67: historian who helped rescue and restore innumerable early talkie shorts and soundtrack disks as the co-founder and guiding force of the Vitaphone Project.

Paul LeBlanc, 73: hairstylist who won an Oscar for Amadeus, styled Carrie Fisher for Return of the Jedi and created Javier Bardem’s distinctive bowl cut for No Country for Old Men.

Nick Redman, 63: documentary filmmaker (Becoming John Ford) who also co-founded the DVD label Twilight Time, restored classic film scores and produced soundtrack albums.

Nick Roddick, 73: film journalist, critic, academic, festival fixture, regular contributor to Sight & Sound, and editor of Screen International and Moving Pictures.

• Nick Roddick obituary: a journalist with a passion for the art and business of film

Dave Smith, 78: the founder of the Walt Disney Archives, its long-time chief archivist and the author of several books on the studio’s history.