Film producer

Born: July 27th 1940

Died: September 23rd 2018

Gary Kurtz, who has died aged 78, was an American film producer whose place in cinema history is assured through his work on George Lucas’ 1977 science fiction adventure classic Star Wars.

The highest-grossing film ever made by that point, and arguably the most financially successful film ever made, it was also a cultural phenomenon which started the summer blockbuster trend. Star Wars was made for a budget of 11 million dollars and has reportedly earned just over three quarters of a billion dollars in international box office receipts ( two and a half billion dollars when adjusted for inflation). Unlike many of the action-heavy blockbusters which followed it, however, it was critically acclaimed and remains so today, in tune with its era yet expertly constructed from many of the tropes of classic storytelling, from the legends of Beowulf and King Arthur to the films of Akira Kurosawa and David Lean.

Yet the rest of Kurtz’ career as a producer was relatively modest, early achievement with Lucas followed by high-profile but ultimately unsuccessful projects during the 1980s. As a young Hollywood film professional in the late 1960s who took assistant production, direction and camera operation roles on low-budget films starring Basil Rathbone, Jack Nicholson and Harry Dean Stanton, Kurtz graduated to associate producer for the cult thrillers Chandler and Two-Lane Blacktop (both 1971).

Kurtz and Lucas were contemporaries at that time, and first collaborated on the director’s nostalgic 1973 debut American Graffiti, which they sold to Universal Pictures for a small budget in return for creative freedom. The film was a sleeper hit, and Kurtz and Coppola shared an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe win for Best Picture.

Behind the scenes lore tells of Kurtz’ huge role in Star Wars (originally intended as a Flash Gordon remake), from negotiations with obstinate film crews on Lucas’ behalf, but also in his second-unit direction and his intensive creative discussions with Lucas. Star Wars gave Kurtz his second Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, this one all to himself.

Yet 1980’s sequel The Empire Strikes Back brought the end of his relationship with Lucas, amid disagreements about a budget overrun and the planned tone of the upcoming third instalment, Return of the Jedi. Kurtz favoured a darker finale, and believed Lucas to be more concerned with toy sales than creative issues.

In the 1980s Kurtz produced the fondly-remembered 1982 puppet animation The Dark Crystal, directed by Muppets creator Jim Henson and Franz Oz; the dark Wizard of Oz quasi-sequel Return to Oz in 1985, whose failure bankrupted him; and in 1989 the unsuccessful Slipstream reunited him with Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker.

After that he largely disappeared from view, producing Alfred Molina-starring thriller The Steal (1995), Christian children’s animation Friends & Heroes (2007) and 5-25-77 (2007), a coming-of-age movie set on the day of Star Wars’ release.

Born in Los Angeles in 1940, but based in London since working on Star Wars there, Gary Douglas Kurtz was a Quaker who served in the US Marines in Vietnam in the late 1960s. A photographer, musician and film archivist, he worked in China and the Far East in later life. He is survived by hid third wife Clare and three adult children.

By David Pollock