‘Star Wars’ production icon Robert Watts has died aged 86.
‘Star Wars’ production icon Robert Watts has died aged 86
The passing of the revered movie boss, renowned for collaborating with George Lucas to produce the sci-fi franchise favourite as well as ‘Indiana Jones’, was announced on Tuesday (01.10.24), with Julian Owen from Alliance Agents confirming his death.
He told The Hollywood Reporter about the British-born production titan’s death: “We were with him for a decade taking him to conventions all over the world, where he could connect with fans and talk about his career.”
Robert was said to have died on Monday (30.09.24) in his sleep at his home in East Sussex.
Along with his work with director Steven Spielberg to produce ‘Indiana Jones’, Robert worked on pioneering live animation ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, which came out in 1988, as well as ‘An American Tail: Fievel Goes West’ three years later.
He was production supervisor under the production designer John Barry on ‘Star Wars’, with the pair travelling to Morocco and Tunisia to scout locations, and he went on to do third unit directing.
He said in a 2011 interview about the experience: “We were under a great deal of pressure from 20thCentury Fox.
“They were under great financial problems themselves and did not believe in the movie.
“At the time, we were the only Fox movie then shooting anywhere in the world. “Their eyes were focused on us, and George was under a great deal of pressure. As a result so were we all.”
Robert went on to become associate producer on ‘Star Wars’ sequel ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ in 1980, and was co-producer on its follow-up ‘Return of the Jedi’, which came out three years later. (1983).
Born in London on 23 May, 1938, Robert’s grandfather Walter Meade was a screenwriter whose credits included the iconic movie ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ starring John Mills.
He did two years of national service in Nigeria, then got into the film industry working as a runner on the 1960 comedy ‘A French Mistress’.
Robert was a second assistant director on ‘The Man in the Middle’ and Roman Polanski’s ‘Repulsion’ horror from 1965.
His other notable production credits included being a location manager on Stanley Kubrick’s seminal ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, as well as on ‘Papillon’ from 1973, which starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.
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