Fred Roos, the Oscar-winning producer of “The Godfather Part II,” who helped launch the careers of numerous superstars from Jack Nicholson to Tom Cruise, has died. He was 89.
He died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., his representative announced Tuesday, days after his and Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film, “Megalopolis,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
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Ruth and Coppola have worked together for more than 50 years, starting with The Godfather, where he advised on the casting of Al Pacino and James Caan and introduced Coppola to John Cazale, against the studio’s wishes. He also produced The Conversation, which was nominated for a Coppola Best Picture, Apocalypse Now, and The Godfather Parts II and Part III.
“Fred Ruth had almost foolproof casting instincts,” Coppola wrote on Instagram. “He was a great lifelong friend and above all a collaborator with a true love of film.”
Executive producer Fred Roos poses at the US premiere of Focus Features’ ‘The Beguiled’ held at the Directors Guild of America on Monday, June 12, 2017 in Los Angeles. Ruth, the Academy Award-winning producer of The Godfather, Part II, who helped launch the careers of numerous superstars from Jack Nicholson to Tom Cruise, will be speaking on Saturday, May 18, 2024. He died at his home in Beverly Hills, California. he said on Tuesday, May 21st. He was 89 years old. (Steve Cohn/Focus Features Invision/AP Images)
Stories about his influence on some of the biggest films of all time, from The Godfather trilogy to Star Wars, are the stuff of Hollywood legend. During the development of Star Wars, George Lucas sought Ruth’s opinion. Lucas received a script from Ruth, with names like Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and James Earl Jones scrawled on it. Ruth also helped assemble the young casts for Lucas’ American Graffiti and The Outsiders, including actors Cruise, Ford, Diane Lane, Richard Dreyfuss, Rob Lowe, Matt Dillon, and Patrick Swayze. It was introduced to a wide audience.
“I always like to think about the actors I cast in my movies becoming stars and getting to hear their voices again,” he said in an interview about casting The Outsiders.
Sometimes it took some convincing, like having Ford appear as Han Solo. In 2004, Ford said, “Once I believed in him, he didn’t relent. He kept recommending me for roles and I kept getting turned down. Things finally clicked.”
Other discoverers of Ruth include Diane Keaton, Laurence Fishburne, Emilio Estevez, Jennifer Connelly, and Alden Ehrenreich.
In a 2016 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ruth said of her ability to spot talent: “It’s always intangible. It’s just a feeling I have for someone.” Nicholson, they don’t fit any mold. ”
Ruth was born on May 22, 1934 in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in Riverside and Los Angeles, attending the prestigious Hollywood High School. After he graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1956, he was drafted and joined the Army, serving two tours of duty in Korea, one with Garry Marshall.
He has long been interested in movies and began working in the mailroom of the entertainment agency MCA. One of his chores there was driving Marilyn Monroe. Soon, he began appearing on television shows such as “The Andy Griffith Show” and “That Girl.”
His film breakthrough came in 1968 with Petulia, an adultery drama directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie and George C. Scott.
“After that, the work just kept coming in,” Ruth says.
Among them are John Huston (Fat City), Michelangelo Antonioni (Zabriskie Point), Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop), and Bob Rafelson (Five Easy It also includes works such as “Peace”).
Ruth and Coppola received two Best Picture nominations that same year for The Godfather Part II and The Conversation, which they won for. Other films he produced for Coppola include One from the Heart, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, Tucker, and Tetro. There is.
The Coppola collaboration extended to family members, too: Ruth was especially proud to have produced “Hearts of Darkness,” an Emmy-winning documentary about the making of the late director Eleanor Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” and to have helped produce her 2016 film, “Paris Can Wait.”
He has also worked on all of Sofia Coppola’s films, including The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, and he has also worked on all of Sofia Coppola’s films, including The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation, making her a favorite of Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Elle Fanning, and the latest. He introduced him to actors such as Kailey Spaeny, who starred in the film “Priscilla.” He sometimes suggested celebrities for roles, such as Colin Farrell in The Beguiled.
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Outside of Coppola’s orbit, he produced Nicholson’s directorial debut Drive, He Said, Carol Ballard’s The Black Stallion and Agnieszka Holland’s The Secret Garden. He also helped S.E. Hinton and American Zoetrope bring The Outsiders to Broadway. Last month, it received 12 Tony Award nominations.
Ruth is survived by his son, Alexander “Sandy” Ruth, who was also his producing partner, and his wife, Nancy Drew.
“(He) was determined to never retire from the film industry and to live with his boots on,” his son said in a statement. “He got his wish fulfilled.”
