Dianne Crittenden, casting director on the original Star Wars who also worked on Pretty Woman, Spider-Man 2 and dozens of other films during a 40-year career, died March 19 at her home in Pacific Palisades. She was 82.
Her friend and colleague Ilene Starger confirmed her passing to Deadline.
Born on August 6, 1941, in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, NY, Crittenden got her start in the entertainment industry working with Howard Zieff, a photographer and director. They worked on advertising campaigns, TV commercials and films.
Her first project as casting director was Terrence Malick’s 1973 drama Badlands, starring Martin Sheen-Sissy Spacek, on which Bruce Springsteen based his song “Nebraska” a decade later. Crittenden worked on a few other films and TV shows, including the Emmy-winning 1976 Sally Field miniseries Sybil, before land the casting-director role of a lifetime — a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
After working with George Lucas on the iconic Star Wars,...
Her friend and colleague Ilene Starger confirmed her passing to Deadline.
Born on August 6, 1941, in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, NY, Crittenden got her start in the entertainment industry working with Howard Zieff, a photographer and director. They worked on advertising campaigns, TV commercials and films.
Her first project as casting director was Terrence Malick’s 1973 drama Badlands, starring Martin Sheen-Sissy Spacek, on which Bruce Springsteen based his song “Nebraska” a decade later. Crittenden worked on a few other films and TV shows, including the Emmy-winning 1976 Sally Field miniseries Sybil, before land the casting-director role of a lifetime — a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
After working with George Lucas on the iconic Star Wars,...
- 3/22/2024
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Dianne Crittenden, the casting director whose impressive résumé included the first Star Wars film, The In-Laws and the Terrence Malick features Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, has died. She was 82.
Crittenden died Wednesday at her home in Pacific Palisades after a battle with several cancers, fellow casting director Ilene Starger told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Dianne was my mentor, we’ve known each other for 44 years,” Starger said. “She was also my dear friend, more like an older sister, really. So generous, kind, brilliant, funny. A people magnet. Her knowledge of and insight into actors was extraordinary.”
A former head of casting at Warner Bros., Crittenden collaborated with Martin Ritt on Murphy’s Romance (1985) and Stanley & Iris (1990); with Roger Donaldson on Thirteen Days (2000) and The World’s Fastest Indian (2005); and with Peter Weir on Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Green Card (1990).
Crittenden was born in Queens on Aug.
Crittenden died Wednesday at her home in Pacific Palisades after a battle with several cancers, fellow casting director Ilene Starger told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Dianne was my mentor, we’ve known each other for 44 years,” Starger said. “She was also my dear friend, more like an older sister, really. So generous, kind, brilliant, funny. A people magnet. Her knowledge of and insight into actors was extraordinary.”
A former head of casting at Warner Bros., Crittenden collaborated with Martin Ritt on Murphy’s Romance (1985) and Stanley & Iris (1990); with Roger Donaldson on Thirteen Days (2000) and The World’s Fastest Indian (2005); and with Peter Weir on Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Green Card (1990).
Crittenden was born in Queens on Aug.
- 3/21/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dianne Crittenden, casting director on some of the most notable features of the 1970s and ’80s including “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” “Days of Heaven” and “Pretty Woman,” died March 19. She was 82.
She died Wednesday in Pacific Palisades, Calif., according to her friend and mentee Ilene Starger.
Crittenden would go on to have a prolific career in casting lasting over 40 years. Crittenden’s credits include “The Thin Red Line,” “On Golden Pond,” “Witness,” “Badlands,” “Oh! God,” “Howard the Duck,” “Wise Guys” and “Spiderman 2.” She was nominated for a CSA Artios award for “Witness.” She worked with some of the industry’s most prominent directors, such as Ridley Scott, Peter Bogdanovich, Wes Craven, George Romero and Brian De Palma.
In a 2010 featurette included in the Criterion Collection release, Crittenden spoke about her experiences working with Terrence Malick, or “Terry” as she calls him, on his WWII drama “The Thin Red Line.
She died Wednesday in Pacific Palisades, Calif., according to her friend and mentee Ilene Starger.
Crittenden would go on to have a prolific career in casting lasting over 40 years. Crittenden’s credits include “The Thin Red Line,” “On Golden Pond,” “Witness,” “Badlands,” “Oh! God,” “Howard the Duck,” “Wise Guys” and “Spiderman 2.” She was nominated for a CSA Artios award for “Witness.” She worked with some of the industry’s most prominent directors, such as Ridley Scott, Peter Bogdanovich, Wes Craven, George Romero and Brian De Palma.
In a 2010 featurette included in the Criterion Collection release, Crittenden spoke about her experiences working with Terrence Malick, or “Terry” as she calls him, on his WWII drama “The Thin Red Line.
- 3/21/2024
- by Jack Dunn
- Variety Film + TV
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Private Benjamin" (1980)
Where You Can Stream It: Showtime
The Pitch: Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) has dreamed of one thing since she was eight years old, according to the film's opening title card: essentially, to be a wife. Specifically, "All I want [...] is a big house ... nice clothes, two closets, a live-in maid, and a professional man for a husband." "Private Benjamin" starts by giving Judy everything she's ever wanted, starting with a huge wedding to a professional man named Yale Goodman (played perfunctorily by Albert Brooks), who promptly dies while consummating their marriage later that same night.
Judy was a divorcée (she was previously married at 20) and widow by the age of 28. Her family didn't know what to do with her,...
The Movie: "Private Benjamin" (1980)
Where You Can Stream It: Showtime
The Pitch: Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn) has dreamed of one thing since she was eight years old, according to the film's opening title card: essentially, to be a wife. Specifically, "All I want [...] is a big house ... nice clothes, two closets, a live-in maid, and a professional man for a husband." "Private Benjamin" starts by giving Judy everything she's ever wanted, starting with a huge wedding to a professional man named Yale Goodman (played perfunctorily by Albert Brooks), who promptly dies while consummating their marriage later that same night.
Judy was a divorcée (she was previously married at 20) and widow by the age of 28. Her family didn't know what to do with her,...
- 9/22/2022
- by Ariel Fisher
- Slash Film
Over & Overs is a series where we talk about movies we've watched countless times.
by Camila Henriques
I don't recall the first time I watched My Girl, but I do remember where I've seen it the most. This Howard Zieff-directed coming of age drama was a fixture on TV as I was growing up, and, for the past 25+ years, it has been for sure one of these films that becomes something new with every rewatch.
Probably best known for being Macaulay Culkin's first on-screen kiss, My Girl tells the story of Vada, a 11 year old girl experiencing change in various ways whilst being surrounded by death: her widowed father falls in love again, her grandmother is in that there-but-not-there situation, and, of course, she goes through her first love - and heartbreak...
by Camila Henriques
I don't recall the first time I watched My Girl, but I do remember where I've seen it the most. This Howard Zieff-directed coming of age drama was a fixture on TV as I was growing up, and, for the past 25+ years, it has been for sure one of these films that becomes something new with every rewatch.
Probably best known for being Macaulay Culkin's first on-screen kiss, My Girl tells the story of Vada, a 11 year old girl experiencing change in various ways whilst being surrounded by death: her widowed father falls in love again, her grandmother is in that there-but-not-there situation, and, of course, she goes through her first love - and heartbreak...
- 12/24/2019
- by Camila Henriques
- FilmExperience
Tony Sokol Dec 19, 2018
Penny Marshall, director of Big and star of Laverne and Shirley, brought the Bronx to Hollywood.
Penny Marshall, Hollywood's top-grossing female director and star of television's Laverne & Shirley died at age 75 from complications from diabetes. She had reportedly been battling health issues since diagnosed in 2009 with lung cancer which spread to her brain.
“Our family is heartbroken over the passing of Penny Marshall,” the family said in a statement. “Penny was a girl from the Bronx who came out West, put a cursive ‘L’ on her sweater and transformed herself into a Hollywood success story. We hope her life continues to inspire others.”
Marshall is best known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the Happy Days spinoff Laverne & Shirley , which ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy three times during the run.
Penny Marshall, director of Big and star of Laverne and Shirley, brought the Bronx to Hollywood.
Penny Marshall, Hollywood's top-grossing female director and star of television's Laverne & Shirley died at age 75 from complications from diabetes. She had reportedly been battling health issues since diagnosed in 2009 with lung cancer which spread to her brain.
“Our family is heartbroken over the passing of Penny Marshall,” the family said in a statement. “Penny was a girl from the Bronx who came out West, put a cursive ‘L’ on her sweater and transformed herself into a Hollywood success story. We hope her life continues to inspire others.”
Marshall is best known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the Happy Days spinoff Laverne & Shirley , which ran on ABC from 1976 to 1983. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy three times during the run.
- 12/19/2018
- Den of Geek
The first time many Americans encountered Penny Marshall on their television sets, it was in this commercial for Head and Shoulders.
The ad’s main selling point is meant to be the luxurious blonde mane of Marshall’s co-star, Farrah Fawcett. But there’s something in the dry exasperation with which Marshall responds to Fawcett’s relaxed and bubbly energy that makes the whole idea land. As Fawcett blathers on and on, Marshall keeps patiently brushing her hair with an expression that makes clear how much harder she has to...
The ad’s main selling point is meant to be the luxurious blonde mane of Marshall’s co-star, Farrah Fawcett. But there’s something in the dry exasperation with which Marshall responds to Fawcett’s relaxed and bubbly energy that makes the whole idea land. As Fawcett blathers on and on, Marshall keeps patiently brushing her hair with an expression that makes clear how much harder she has to...
- 12/18/2018
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Rollingstone.com
Penny Marshall, who starred alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley” and then became a successful director, died on Monday night at her Hollywood Hills home due to complications from diabetes, Variety has confirmed. She was 75.
Marshall was the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million, the first woman to direct two films that grossed more than $100 million, and she was only the second woman director to see her film Oscar nominated for best picture.
“Laverne & Shirley” ran from 1976-1983 and proved an enormous success for ABC. It was the No. 3 show on television in 1975-76, No. 2 in 1976-77, and No. 1 in 1977-78 and 1978-79, spawning ancillary revenue in the form of merchandising, a record album and an animated series based on the show.
Marshall began her directing career by helming several episodes of “Laverne & Shirley.” With little experience, she...
Marshall was the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million, the first woman to direct two films that grossed more than $100 million, and she was only the second woman director to see her film Oscar nominated for best picture.
“Laverne & Shirley” ran from 1976-1983 and proved an enormous success for ABC. It was the No. 3 show on television in 1975-76, No. 2 in 1976-77, and No. 1 in 1977-78 and 1978-79, spawning ancillary revenue in the form of merchandising, a record album and an animated series based on the show.
Marshall began her directing career by helming several episodes of “Laverne & Shirley.” With little experience, she...
- 12/18/2018
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Perhaps too black a comedy for its era, Preston Sturges’ second effort after his departure from Paramount did not find much favor with audiences and effectively ended his career as an A-list Hollywood director. But subsequent years have proved kind to what was always a clever concept, originally conceived by Sturges in 1932 but summarily rejected for production at the time. Cut from 127 minutes to 105 after previews, its release was delayed due to scandal involving star Rex Harrison. Remade in 1984 by Howard Zieff.
The post Unfaithfully Yours appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Unfaithfully Yours appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 11/9/2018
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Glenda Jackson: Actress and former Labour MP. Two-time Oscar winner and former Labour MP Glenda Jackson returns to acting Two-time Best Actress Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson set aside her acting career after becoming a Labour Party MP in 1992. Four years ago, Jackson, who represented the Greater London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate, announced that she would stand down the 2015 general election – which, somewhat controversially, was won by right-wing prime minister David Cameron's Conservative party.[1] The silver lining: following a two-decade-plus break, Glenda Jackson is returning to acting. Now, Jackson isn't – for the time being – returning to acting in front of the camera. The 79-year-old is to be featured in the Radio 4 series Emile Zola: Blood, Sex and Money, described on their website as a “mash-up” adaptation of 20 Emile Zola novels collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart."[2] Part 1 of the three-part Radio 4 series will be broadcast daily during an...
- 7/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Preston Sturges’ second effort after his departure from Paramount did not find much favor with audiences and effectively ended his career as an A-list Hollywood director. But subsequent years have proved kind to what was always a clever concept, originally conceived by Sturges in 1932 but summarily rejected for production at the time. Cut from 127 minutes to 105 after previews, its release was delayed due to scandal involving star Rex Harrison. Remade in 1984 by Howard Zieff.
- 2/11/2015
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Kevin and Winnie win the small screen. But these little love birds win big on the silver screen. Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a few love lessons learned by some of the cinematically sweetest minis exploring their own wonder years and most honest time in their lives: their first love. Vada and Thomas J. My Girl, 1991 (PG-13) She loves him. She loves him not. She loves him. So goes preteen Vada’s hang-ups in director Howard Zieff’s 1991 classic. Played by a...
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- 2/9/2015
- by affiliates@fandango.com
- Fandango
Four years ago it looked like the lead role in the inevitable Private Benjamin remake would be Anna Faris, but the project has evidently moved on since then and today we learn that it has chosen a new star. Rebel Wilson, who first gained notice for her supporting role in Bridesmaids back in 2011 and stole the show in 2012's Pitch Perfect, is now reportedly attached to star in the comedy reboot. The original, directed by Howard Zieff and released in 1980, starred Goldie Hawn as a snobbish socialite who learns to live the rough life in the army, but according to The Wrap the remake will be going in a slightly different direction with the story. Wilson will be playing a redneck who teams up with a rich city girl to join the marines in an attempt to "escape their present situations." The project doesn't seem to have attracted a director...
- 5/7/2014
- cinemablend.com
Comedy Classics! week continues at Trailers from Hell with editor Marshall Harvey introducing Preston Sturges' "Unfaithfully Yours," originally conceived in 1932 but not made until after Sturges left Paramount in 1948. Perhaps too black a comedy for its era, Preston Sturges' second effort after his departure from Paramount did not find much favor with audiences and effectively ended his career as an A-list Hollywood director. But subsequent years have proved kind to what was always a clever concept, originally conceived by Sturges in 1932 but summarily rejected for production at the time. Cut from 127 minutes to 105 after previews, its release was delayed due to scandal involving star Rex Harrison. Remade in 1984 by Howard Zieff.
- 1/30/2013
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Film Society of Lincoln Center, which is responsible for the highly regarded New York Film Festival, also peppers the entire calendar year with exciting mini-festivals, including in February, their Film Comment Selects Festival built around oddball choices from the Society’s Film Comment magazine. This year’s lineup emphasizes its eclectic collection of varying tastes within the magazine, with editors and contributors selecting a wide array of movies, including new features by Takashi Miike, Michel Gondry, Ben Wheatley, and a retrospective comprised of two oddball Howard Zieff movies. The festival opens with the New York premiere of “Simon Killer,” the thriller from “Afterschool” writer/director Antonio Campos, about a psychopath (Brady Corbet) in Paris who becomes obsessed with a prostitute, and closes with the U.S. premiere of “The We and the I,” an experimentally free-wheeling new Michel Gondry movie that was shot...
- 1/26/2013
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films being made available by Netflix for instant streaming. Important Note: There may be some films that do not become available on the specified dates. This is merely a report of the most accurate release dates I can find, but is not directly confirmed by Netflix themselves.
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2010)
Streaming Available: 06/29/2011
Synopsis: Since his tragic death from cancer at age 32, comedian Bill Hicks’s legend and stature have only grown, and this unique documentary tells his story, blending live footage, interviews and animation to fill in the details of a life cut short. A comic’s comic and unflagging critic of hypocrisy and cultural emptiness, Hicks was one of a kind, a Lenny Bruce for the late 20th century,...
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2010)
Streaming Available: 06/29/2011
Synopsis: Since his tragic death from cancer at age 32, comedian Bill Hicks’s legend and stature have only grown, and this unique documentary tells his story, blending live footage, interviews and animation to fill in the details of a life cut short. A comic’s comic and unflagging critic of hypocrisy and cultural emptiness, Hicks was one of a kind, a Lenny Bruce for the late 20th century,...
- 6/28/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Anna Faris is set to star in “Private Benjamin” for New Line Cinema and producer Mark Gordon. The comedy is a remake of the 1980 film directed by Howard Zieff and screenwritten by Charles Shyer, Nancy Meyers and Harvey Miller. The original starred Goldie Hawn, Eileen Brennan, Armand Assante and Robert Webber. Amy Talkington is in discussions to write the new take. This joins other remakes including "Police Academy" and "Vacation" from New Line. Faris was last seen in "Observe and Report" with Seth Rogen. The actress voiced characters in the recent "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and prior to that "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" for Sony...
- 3/31/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
My first screenwriting teacher at the Nyu film school was Patricia Cooper, who'd served as the highest female executive at a major studio at that time, overseeing big movies at Paramount in the '70s. She marched our class up to the Gulf & Western Building at Columbus Circle and sat us down in a screening room that resembled what I imagined a first-class airline compartment looked like, then showed us Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation."
As we gushed over it afterward, she praised the film but confessed to disappointment with the script. This was my first glimpse of major-league Hollywood story development.
My second teacher was Venable Herndon, co-author of Arthur Penn's "Alice's Restaurant." Venable's class was like some Reichian encounter group, but to get out of it in one piece, you didn't have to bare your primal wounds, only write a screenplay.
My third teacher was once-blacklisted Ian McLellan Hunter,...
As we gushed over it afterward, she praised the film but confessed to disappointment with the script. This was my first glimpse of major-league Hollywood story development.
My second teacher was Venable Herndon, co-author of Arthur Penn's "Alice's Restaurant." Venable's class was like some Reichian encounter group, but to get out of it in one piece, you didn't have to bare your primal wounds, only write a screenplay.
My third teacher was once-blacklisted Ian McLellan Hunter,...
- 1/27/2010
- by By Tom Silvestri
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
(from left) Michael Jackson, David Carradine, Bea Arthur, Ricardo Montalban, Karl Malden, Brittany Murphy and Patrick Swayze After losing the likes of Paul Newman, Bernie Mac, George Carlin, Estelle Getty, Roy Scheider and Heath Ledger in 2008 who would have ever thought 2009 would have also taken so many recognizable and loved names. Of course, these are the things we never plan on as once again I continue the tradition I started back in 2006, remembering those we lost over the past year. Like always I will remind you this is not a complete list, but to my knowledge it is a pretty good representation of those we lost from the world of entertainment... Pat Hingle (Died January 3, 2009) - Commissioner Gordon in the '80s and '90s series of Batman movies. Died from Myelodysplasia (blood cancer).
Ricardo Montalban (Died January 14, 2009) - Played the memorable role of Khan in Star Trek - The...
Ricardo Montalban (Died January 14, 2009) - Played the memorable role of Khan in Star Trek - The...
- 1/13/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
With featured roles in Brian De Palma’s Carrie, John Carpenter’s Halloween, Allan Arkush's Rock 'n' Roll High School (featuring The Ramones), and Rob Zombie’s The Devil's Rejects, P.J. Soles has appeared in some of the most iconic cult/horror films of all time.
She's also an accomplished comedic actress, appearing in more mainstream fare such as Ivan Reitman's Stripes and Howard Zieff's Private Benjamin. (Okay, maybe Stripes and Private Benjamin aren't the genre movies Dread Central usually covers, but I think we remember them as well – especially P.J. displaying her comedy chops with Bill Murray).
Ms. Soles sat down with writer and horror fiend Heather Buckley for a lively interview about her acting career (which spans over 30 years, including television), her current musical endeavors, and one actor's insights into the differences between being directed by master of the macabre John Carpenter and suspense maestro Brian De Palma.
She's also an accomplished comedic actress, appearing in more mainstream fare such as Ivan Reitman's Stripes and Howard Zieff's Private Benjamin. (Okay, maybe Stripes and Private Benjamin aren't the genre movies Dread Central usually covers, but I think we remember them as well – especially P.J. displaying her comedy chops with Bill Murray).
Ms. Soles sat down with writer and horror fiend Heather Buckley for a lively interview about her acting career (which spans over 30 years, including television), her current musical endeavors, and one actor's insights into the differences between being directed by master of the macabre John Carpenter and suspense maestro Brian De Palma.
- 11/11/2009
- by Heather Buckley
- DreadCentral.com
Howard Zieff, a famed director of TV commercials in the 1960s who went on to specialize in Hollywood comedies, died Feb. 21 of Parkinson's disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 81.
Zieff's films include "Hearts of the West" (1975), "Private Benjamin" (1980), "Unfaithfully Yours" (1984), "The Dream Team" (1989), "My Girl" (1991) and his last film, "My Girl 2" (1994).
Goldie Hawn, who received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her role in "Private Benjamin," told the Los Angeles Times that Zieff "had a special talent for directing comedies, always a rare gift."
The Chicago native also is credited with helping to change the face of American commercials in the '60s with witty slice-of life vignettes, such as his "Spicy Meatball" spot for Alka-Seltzer. Time magazine called him the "master of the mini ha-ha."
One of the best-known photographers on Madison Avenue early in his career, Zieff also did the posters for Levy's Rye Bread,...
Zieff's films include "Hearts of the West" (1975), "Private Benjamin" (1980), "Unfaithfully Yours" (1984), "The Dream Team" (1989), "My Girl" (1991) and his last film, "My Girl 2" (1994).
Goldie Hawn, who received an Oscar nomination for best actress for her role in "Private Benjamin," told the Los Angeles Times that Zieff "had a special talent for directing comedies, always a rare gift."
The Chicago native also is credited with helping to change the face of American commercials in the '60s with witty slice-of life vignettes, such as his "Spicy Meatball" spot for Alka-Seltzer. Time magazine called him the "master of the mini ha-ha."
One of the best-known photographers on Madison Avenue early in his career, Zieff also did the posters for Levy's Rye Bread,...
- 2/24/2009
- by By Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
U.S. film and television commercial director Howard Zieff has died, at the age of 81.
He passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Sunday after suffering from Parkinson's disease, according to his wife Ronda Gomez-Quinones.
Zieff was a top advertising print photographer and TV commercial director in the 1960s before taking on directorial duties for a string of hit movies including 1980 comedy Private Benjamin and My Girl in 1991.
Goldie Hawn, who received an Oscar nomination for her role in Private Benjamin, has paid tribute to Zieff.
She says, "I loved Howard and his zest for life. What I remember and cherish most was his humour and love of laughter. He had a special talent for directing comedies, always a rare gift. We laughed and cried together while making Private Benjamin, and I will miss him so much."
Zieff is survived by his wife.
He passed away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Sunday after suffering from Parkinson's disease, according to his wife Ronda Gomez-Quinones.
Zieff was a top advertising print photographer and TV commercial director in the 1960s before taking on directorial duties for a string of hit movies including 1980 comedy Private Benjamin and My Girl in 1991.
Goldie Hawn, who received an Oscar nomination for her role in Private Benjamin, has paid tribute to Zieff.
She says, "I loved Howard and his zest for life. What I remember and cherish most was his humour and love of laughter. He had a special talent for directing comedies, always a rare gift. We laughed and cried together while making Private Benjamin, and I will miss him so much."
Zieff is survived by his wife.
- 2/24/2009
- WENN
Other FAB awards were bestowed on Amblin/Universal's "An American Tail: Fievel Goes West" and Columbia's "My Girl", including an award for the film's director, Howard Zieff.
- 12/16/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There'll be a Big Mac Attack for ''My Girl'': overanxious tots storming to see their ''Home Alone'' hero, Macaulay Culkin, waste the big bad people and, then, blind-sided parents who'll have to cope with their little ones' emotional confusion when they emerge from a show where Culkin is struck dead.
Word-of-mouth in the lower grades at the elementary school will be troubled. Truly, Columbia, to paraphrase the title song, will have ''when it's cold outside, the month of May'' at the boxoffice, but those receipts will be a mixed blessing: this fine film's most appreciative audience may be adults over 35 who will only inadvertently show up for this offering, who, like their kids, will think ''My Girl'' is some sort of ''Home Alone'' clone. Why should they think different, the ads are careful not to say.
The film's most enthusiastic viewers will likely be found six months hence in the family video room, among adults who find they're hooked on this beguiling coming-of-age drama just as their kids scamper away to noisier, less-troubling activity.
Rippling with a tender and robust script from first-time screenwriter Laurice Elehwany, ''My Girl'' is a spirited, early 1970s story about one Middle American girl's coming-of-age: 11-year-old Vada (Anna Chlumsky) is a hyperactive, hypochondriac kid whose home life is, well, funereal -- her widowed father (Dan Aykroyd) is an undertaker and the family abode is also a funeral home.
Bright and super-sensitive, young Vada is susceptible to unrelenting fears of death: like first-year med students, she thinks she has the terminal symptoms of whatever disease her father's latest ''client'' died from. In short, her whole home setting, which includes a senile grandmother, prompts this morbidity.
Her only solaces are a kind schoolteacher (Griffin Dunne), whom she develops a crush on, and her tag-along friend Thomas J. (Culkin), whose shy gentleness soothes her. But deep down, the little girl is troubled by an overwhelming burden -- her mother died as a result of her birth and she feels guilty!
Also, still suffering the pangs of that death is Vada's father, Harry. has schlumped to an easy chair and a sitcom. His resuscitation here, however, is decidedly less complex than his daughter's: a leggy cosmetologist Jamie Lee Curtis) comes to work for him and, amazingly, her eyeshadow immediately turns to goo over the hefty Harry.
While this parallel adult-style revitalization is pleasing, it is perhaps this somber story's weakest, most facile link. Nonetheless, director Howard Zieff ties it all together with a masterly, if somewhat over-rosy, knot.
''My Girl's'' performances are terrific. Young Chlumsky is a wonderful whirlwind of emotions as the acutely sensitive Vada, while Culkin is endearingly natural as her first kiss. Once again, Aykroyd shows his considerable strength as a dramatic actor.
Tech contributions are tops: Joseph T. Garrity's production design and Karen Patch's costume design color this Nixon/Agnew-era story with the festering contradictions of the times, while James Newton Howard's music layers in all the right emotional lilts.
MY GIRL
Columbia
A Brian Grazer-Imagine Films Entertainment Production
A Howard Zieff Film
Producer Brian Grazer
Director Howard Zieff
Screenwriter Laurice Elehwany
Executive producers Joseph M. Caracciolo, David T. Friendly
Director of photography Paul Elliott
Production designer Joseph T. Garrity
Editor Wendy Greene Bricmont
Music James Newton Howard
Casting Mary Colquhoun
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Harry Sultenfuss Dan Aykroyd
Shelly DeVoto Jamie Lee Curtis
Thomas J. Sennett Macaulay Culkin
Vada Sultenfuss Anna Chlumsky
Phil Sultenfuss Richard Masur
Mr. Bixler Griffin Dunne
Gramoo Sultenfuss Ann Nelson
Dr. Welty Peter Michael Goetz
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Word-of-mouth in the lower grades at the elementary school will be troubled. Truly, Columbia, to paraphrase the title song, will have ''when it's cold outside, the month of May'' at the boxoffice, but those receipts will be a mixed blessing: this fine film's most appreciative audience may be adults over 35 who will only inadvertently show up for this offering, who, like their kids, will think ''My Girl'' is some sort of ''Home Alone'' clone. Why should they think different, the ads are careful not to say.
The film's most enthusiastic viewers will likely be found six months hence in the family video room, among adults who find they're hooked on this beguiling coming-of-age drama just as their kids scamper away to noisier, less-troubling activity.
Rippling with a tender and robust script from first-time screenwriter Laurice Elehwany, ''My Girl'' is a spirited, early 1970s story about one Middle American girl's coming-of-age: 11-year-old Vada (Anna Chlumsky) is a hyperactive, hypochondriac kid whose home life is, well, funereal -- her widowed father (Dan Aykroyd) is an undertaker and the family abode is also a funeral home.
Bright and super-sensitive, young Vada is susceptible to unrelenting fears of death: like first-year med students, she thinks she has the terminal symptoms of whatever disease her father's latest ''client'' died from. In short, her whole home setting, which includes a senile grandmother, prompts this morbidity.
Her only solaces are a kind schoolteacher (Griffin Dunne), whom she develops a crush on, and her tag-along friend Thomas J. (Culkin), whose shy gentleness soothes her. But deep down, the little girl is troubled by an overwhelming burden -- her mother died as a result of her birth and she feels guilty!
Also, still suffering the pangs of that death is Vada's father, Harry. has schlumped to an easy chair and a sitcom. His resuscitation here, however, is decidedly less complex than his daughter's: a leggy cosmetologist Jamie Lee Curtis) comes to work for him and, amazingly, her eyeshadow immediately turns to goo over the hefty Harry.
While this parallel adult-style revitalization is pleasing, it is perhaps this somber story's weakest, most facile link. Nonetheless, director Howard Zieff ties it all together with a masterly, if somewhat over-rosy, knot.
''My Girl's'' performances are terrific. Young Chlumsky is a wonderful whirlwind of emotions as the acutely sensitive Vada, while Culkin is endearingly natural as her first kiss. Once again, Aykroyd shows his considerable strength as a dramatic actor.
Tech contributions are tops: Joseph T. Garrity's production design and Karen Patch's costume design color this Nixon/Agnew-era story with the festering contradictions of the times, while James Newton Howard's music layers in all the right emotional lilts.
MY GIRL
Columbia
A Brian Grazer-Imagine Films Entertainment Production
A Howard Zieff Film
Producer Brian Grazer
Director Howard Zieff
Screenwriter Laurice Elehwany
Executive producers Joseph M. Caracciolo, David T. Friendly
Director of photography Paul Elliott
Production designer Joseph T. Garrity
Editor Wendy Greene Bricmont
Music James Newton Howard
Casting Mary Colquhoun
Color/Stereo
Cast:
Harry Sultenfuss Dan Aykroyd
Shelly DeVoto Jamie Lee Curtis
Thomas J. Sennett Macaulay Culkin
Vada Sultenfuss Anna Chlumsky
Phil Sultenfuss Richard Masur
Mr. Bixler Griffin Dunne
Gramoo Sultenfuss Ann Nelson
Dr. Welty Peter Michael Goetz
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 11/27/1991
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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