Producer Fred Roos, who won an Oscar for work on movies like “The Godfather Part II” and “Apocalypse Now,” has died.
The famous actor and director often worked with Francis Ford Coppola. He was 89 years old.
Fred’s first job was as a casting director for old movies like American Graffiti.
Reports from Variety say that he helped find famous actors like Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Carrie Fisher, and Richard Dreyfuss.
Fred worked with the director on a number of projects after becoming close with Francis.
He would also take care of Sofia Coppola when she was young, which was another important job for the director.
Fred’s most recent job was as casting director and executive producer on Francis’s new movie Megalopolis, which had its world premiere last week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Fred did more than just work with the famous director. He also helped with casting the first Star Wars movie.
Variety says that at the time, Fred talked George Lucas into letting a young actor who was working on some cabinets for him try out for the space opera.
Harrison Ford played that part.
After seeing American Graffiti, Fred told Entertainment Weekly, “I had already brought him to George’s attention.” “He was great, but they were filming all night, and he had only worked on the movie for about 10 days.” It wasn’t like George knew him well.
A publicist said that Fred died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills.
Sarah Drew, his wife, and Alexander “Sandy” Roos, their son and business partner in production, survive him.
Fred’s death comes right after another Coppola death.
Roger Corman, a director who won an Oscar, died last week at the age of 98.
The person who made the cult classic hired up-and-coming directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese.
Roger was a big deal in independent film, and he directed The Little Shop of Horrors, a classic movie from 1960.
Many people who knew him said he was generous, honest, and friendly. His daughter Catherine Corman said this in a statement.
“When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, ‘I was a filmmaker, just that,'” she said.
ROGER’S STORY
Roger’s movies are where Hollywood’s golden age in the 1970s got its start.
Jack’s first movie role was as the title character in The Cry Baby Killer, a short film made by Corman in 1958. He stayed with the company and wrote and produced some biker, horror, and action movies.
Robert De Niro, Bruce Dern, and Ellen Burstyn were also actors whose careers got their start in Corman movies.
Peter Fonda’s role in The Wild Angels was a warm-up for his famous biker movie Easy Rider, which starred Nicholson and Dennis Hopper, who was also in that movie.
Corman was given an honorary Academy Award in 2009.
According to Corman, working on a low budget has a lot of problems, but it also has some benefits. He said this in a 2007 documentary about Val Lewton, who directed Cat People and other underground classics in the 1940s.
“There’s a little more risk for you. You can try new things. “To solve a problem or present an idea, you need to think outside the box,” he said.
