Director Gary Nelson, who directed the Disney classics “If I Were My Mother” (1976) and “The Black Depths” (1979), died May 25 of natural causes in Las Vegas at the age of 87. Although his death occurred more than three months ago, the news was only communicated by his children this weekend.
Gary was the son of Sam Nelson, who served as assistant director on historical films such as “The Lady from Shanghai” (1947) and “Some Like It Hot” (1959), and was one of the co-founders of the DGA, the Union of US Directors. He also started as an assistant for iconic works. His first work in the role of him was simply “Youth Transviated” (1955), directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Dean. After that, he was again assistant to John Ford in “The Trail of Hate” (1956), Stanley Donen in “Cinderella in Paris” (1957) and John Sturges in “No Law and No Soul” (1957), before moving to TV.
On television, he went from assistant in 66 episodes of “Paladin of the West” to director of the series in 1962. But this transition had the help of his future wife. Gary Nelson met actress Judi Meredith (“The Giant Slayer”) backstage during his first appearance on the series, and the two fell in love almost instantly. When the producers wanted to bring her back, she imposed a condition: that Nelson direct the episode. It was the beginning of the director’s career.
Nelson and Meredith got married, had two children and were together for 54 years, until her death in 2014.
After directing six episodes of “Paladin of the West”, he went on to direct iconic series such as “The Patty Duke Show” (1963-1966), “Island of the Wretched” (1964-1967), “Agent 86” (1965 -1970), “Us and the Phantom” (1968-1970) and “Nanny” (1970-1971), signing dozens of chapters, and soon went to work in the Western B films of independent producers – “Molly and Lawless John” ( 1972) and “Santee – The Bounty Hunter” (1973).
In 1974, he was hired by Disney to direct the adventure film “The Boy Who Talked to Badgers,” which began his successful relationship with the studio.
His work on “If I Were My Mother” marked a time. The film, starring young Jodie Foster as a teenager who changes bodies with her mother (Barbara Harris), ended up unleashing a craze for body swapping comedies and even a remake, “Freak Friday” (2003). , with Lindsay Lohan and Jennifer Lee Curtis.
Thanks to this success, Disney chose him to direct “The Black Abyss,” one of the studio’s most ambitious and expensive films to date. The production was a space science fiction inspired by “Star Wars” (Star Wars) and became the studio’s first feature film released without free censorship (it was considered inappropriate for children under the age of 10 in Brazil). But it did not satisfy the critics nor did it break the box office, even if today it is considered a cult.
In a career change, Nelson immediately made the crime thriller Nighthawks (1981), starring Sylvester Stallone, which regained its popularity. But things got complicated with the following films, the comedy “Jimmy the Kid” (1982), starring child star Gary Coleman, and “Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold” (1986), a kind of Indiana Jones. of the 2nd Division, which was the second and final film in the series starring Richard Chamberlain (before declaring himself gay) and Sharon Stone (well before it broke out).
The implosion of “Allan Quatermain” ended his film career, but he remained active on TV for many years.
Among other works, he directed all six episodes of the acclaimed miniseries “Washington: Behind Closed Doors” (1977), which won an Emmy for Best Actor for Robert Vaughn.
He retired after directing and serving as co-executive producer on the “Early Edition” series from 1996 to 2000.
Source: Terra
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
