Bob Rafelson, director of “Five Easy Pieces” and co-creator of “The Monkees”, has died at age 89.

Bob Rafelson, writer, director, producer and maverick who set the tone for the rocking and psychedelic 1960s. monkeys, then a pioneer in one of the most influential eras in the history of independent cinema, has died. He was 89 years old.

Rafelson, who collaborated with Jack Nicholson on seven feature films, including the classic easy rider (1969), five simple pieces (1970) and Gardens of the King of Marvin (1972), died Saturday night of natural causes at his home in Aspen, Colorado, said his wife, Gabrielle. the hollywood reporter.

Rafelson received Oscar nominations for co-writing and producing. five simple pieces And then, for an encore, he performed Peter Bogdanovich’s discovery, show last image (1971).

Together with his late partner Bert Schneider, Rafelson created monkeysAn NBC quiz show that debuted in 1966. He came up with the idea for a show that would reflect the power of the Beatles, specifically the energy of their 1964 film Free Energy. The night of the lunar day.

Produced by Raybert Productions, the series featured the comedic misadventures of a musical foursome in search of fame and fortune while living in Malibu. All four were selected from an open casting call announced with full-page announcements, including a THR. Stephen Stills was among hundreds of participants. Over the years, an urban legend has spread that Charles Manson also tried. Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork were eventually cast.

colorful, fast and full of nonsense and nonsense, monkeys He embodied the rebellious sensibilities of the younger generation. And while it only lasted two seasons and 58 episodes, it became a pop culture phenomenon (winning Rafelson and Schneider an Emmy in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series).

In addition to directing the show as a producer and then executive producer, Rafelson directed several episodes. He is also credited with writing two shows that revolved around the touring band.

The quartet really had talent. Jones was an English singer and actor who became famous playing the Artful Dodger on Broadway. oliver. Nesmith and Tork knew the guitar well and were aspiring songwriters. Dolenz, a former child actor best known for the 1950s NBC series circus boy, had a great pop voice (and would learn to play drums). But since they weren’t a natural couple, Rafelson and Schneider hired music producer Don Kirshner to oversee the music.

Kirchner, in turn, drew on the best compositional talent of the time. Competitors included Neil Diamond, Carole King, Harry Neilson, Jon Stewart, Carol Bayer Sager, Neil Sedaka and the team of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. The Monkees’ first four albums reached number one on the Billboard charts, and the group had six top 10 singles, including “Last Train to Clarksville”, “I’m a Believer”, “Pleasant Valley Sunday” and “Daydream Believer”. . . ” .”

The musical legacy left by the Monkees is possibly the band’s biggest influence.

After the series was canceled in 1968, Rafelson brought The Monkees to the big screen. Boss (1968), his directorial debut on the big screen, when he and Schneider signed a five-picture deal with Columbia.

“Bob was urged by his associates and friends not to make a movie with the Monkees,” his wife noted in 2011. Guard About the group. “They felt that he had done his job with them and that his audience was already waning. But Bob felt he wanted to end the cycle. He felt that the truth of the Monkees’ story, their manipulation, protest, and considerable talent, was not being told. He felt the real story, in the abstract [form]It’s worth more than saying.”

Rafelson teamed up with Nicholson, then a B-movie actor and aspiring writer, to create the script. The duo reportedly developed the story during a pot shoot in Ojai, and Nicholson later turned it into a screenplay under the influence of LSD.

Initially, the so-called changes, the title changed to Drug Culture of the Day. Rafelson and Schneider liked and joked that they could market their tracking feature with the slogan “From the guys who gave it to you”. Boss.”

Critics found the film a disjointed and confusing tour de force that destroyed the pop persona that made The Monkees the stars.

With an odd cast including Victor Mature, Annette Funicello, Terry Gary, Frank Zappa and Sonny Liston, Boss He poked fun at various themes, including war, American values, and Hollywood nonsense. Monkees fans were alienated by the group criticizing their television characters. The adult audience he was trying to appeal to had long since lost interest in what they saw as a shallow pop group. Boss it was a box office disappointment and hurt the Monkees’ popularity.

later in Guard To the article, writer Dorian Lynskey added: “But Rafelson honestly believed it would work. “Bobby was disappointed because he expected the film to bear the band’s name,” says Gabriel. He soon realized his mistake. At the Greenwich Village show, the hipsters tricked by cryptic posters left just as the monkeys appeared. The reviews were brutal. From his $790,000 budget, he returned just $16,111.

Over the years, the film has gained a cult following, aided by word of mouth that is best enjoyed in an altered state.

Reply Boss Rafaelson didn’t stop. Raybert Productions’ second feature film was being filmed and released simultaneously. this was easy rider.

Directed by Dennis Hopper from a screenplay by Hopper, Peter Fonda and Terry South. easy rider It took Hollywood by storm when it hit theaters in the summer of 1969.

A Countercultural Commentary on America, easy rider Fonda and Hopper play hippies who, after a big bill and a run-in with a drunk lawyer (Nicholson), hit the road to get around on their motorcycles. Along the way, they encounter the nation’s good and evil.

Celebrating the freedom-loving, drug-loving assholes of the ’60s generation, easy rider embraced young cinephiles. Produced for less than half a million dollars, it became the third highest-grossing film of the year and made Nicholson a star.

easy rider It also proved to studios that their big-budget, star-driven formula needed a change. And Rafelson was just getting started.

Raibert recruited a third partner, Steven Blauner, and changed the name to BBS Productions (to Bob, Bert and Steve). Meanwhile, Rafelson focused on his second feature film, five simple pieces. True to its fringe tendencies, the film follows a disconnected drifter, Bobby Dupuis (Nicholson), who turns his back on his life of privilege and his prodigious piano talent to work on an oil rig. When his father falls ill, he must return home to face what he rebelled against. In addition to directing and producing, Rafelson co-wrote the screenplay with Carol Eastman.

five simple pieces It was hailed as a cinematic masterpiece. Roger Ebert chose it as the best film of the 1970s and was nominated for four Academy Awards. Nicholson earned his second Oscar nomination, cementing his leading role.

BBS Productions ushered in a new wave of paid independent films like show last image; move said (1971), which marked Nicholson’s directorial debut; Oscar-winning anti-war documentary heart and mind (1974); and directed by Rafaelson Gardens of the King of Marvin (1972), Nicholson and Bruce Dern as brothers in a short story set in Atlantic City.

After his production contract with Columbia ended, BBS Productions closed and Rafelson focused on making his own films. These efforts have included stay hungry (1976), starring newcomer Arnold Schwarzenegger and The postman always rings the bell twice (1981), starring Nicholson and Jessica Lange in a gritty and brutal remake of the 1942 MGM melodrama.

“If my movies are any reference,” he told her. Los Angeles Times In 1986, “is that they focus on characters struggling to overcome the burden of tradition in their lives.”

His career was arguably put on hold when he punched a Fox executive in the jaw and was fired as director by Robert Redford. brubaker (1980). He left the business in 2002.

Robert Rafelson was born on February 21, 1933, in New York. His father made hats and his uncle was Samson Raphaelson, who wrote the story and the Broadway play based on Al Jolson. jazz singer (1927).

As a teenager, Rafelson rebelled against his father and refused to follow him into the textile business. “I was one of those guys who challenged all visitors,” he told her. First in 1997. “I started leaving home at 14.”

Rafelson’s travels took him to Arizona, where he became a rodeo rider, and to Acapulco, where he performed as a jazz musician. He studied philosophy at Dartmouth before being drafted into the United States Army. While in Japan, he worked as a disc jockey, translated Japanese films, and became a consultant for Shochiku Co., offering opinions on films he thought would be successful in American theaters.

When Rafelson returned home, he found work in the mailroom of producer David Susskind’s company. He approached a reader and then a story editor for Susskind’s anthology series. game of the week and adapted several episodes. In 1961, he wrote part of the CBS fact-based drama Witness.

In 1962, Rafelson moved to Hollywood and worked as an associate producer on ABC shows like The biggest show in the worldWith Jack Palance and Chaning. In the latter, he fell out with MCA mogul Lev Wasserman over the show’s creative direction. The argument ended with Rafelson cleaning the contents of Wasserman’s desk on the floor and he was fired.

But soon after, he signed on to produce the NBC adaptation of Screen Gems. The strangest ship in the army.And that’s where he met Schneider. The following year, they created Raybert, and soon Screen Gems sold their idea. monkeys.

Rafelson’s later efforts as director included Open the window (1987), starring Debra Winger and Teresa Russell; adventure story moon mountains (nineteen ninety); Two more films with the participation of Nicholson, man’s problem (1992) and blood and wine (1997); s not good (2002).

In 1983, he directed the music video for Lionel Richie’s mega-hit “All Night Long”.

While in high school, Rafelson began dating Toby Carr and they were married in 1955. He worked as a production designer with Rafelson. five simple pieces, Gardens of the King of Marvin s stay hungry. They had two children. Peter is a songwriter best known for Madonna’s 1986 hit “Open Your Heart”; Julie was killed at age 10 when a propane oven at Rafelson’s Aspen home exploded.

Survivors include their children Gabriel, Ethan and Harper; sister-in-law Karen; and a nephew.