John Guillermin, the director responsible for films such as The Towering Inferno and 1976’s version of King Kong, has died at the age of 89.
Guillermin was born in London in 1925, and got his education at the University of Cambridge. After his studies, he joined the Royal Air Force, then mustered out at 22 to begin a career in filmmaking. Initially studying in France and learning the art of documentaries, he moved to Los Angeles in 1950 to learn Hollywood’s film ways, though he’d already gotten his start in movies with the likes of Torment/Paper Gallows, Melody In The Dark and High Jinks In Society.
He would go on to work on films including Town On Trial, The Blue Max, El Condor, Skyjacked, Shaft In Africa and even a couple of Tarzan instalments. But he was best known for entering the world of producer Irwin Allen with The Towering Inferno, which became one of the most famous disaster movies. He followed that up with the oft-maligned 1976 remake of King Kong, which saw Jeff Bridges, and Jessica Lange confronting the giant ape.
Guillermin also directed Agatha Christie adaptation Death On The Nile, with Peter Ustinov playing Hercule Poirot and another Kong film, King Kong Lives in 1986, which would be his last job as a director. He gained a reputation as a hard-working but sometimes challenging personality on set, with novelist James Dickey once describing him as “one of those megalomaniacal directors who have to be given the gates of Heaven before they consider doing a project.” Charlton Heston, who starred in Skyjacked, was more complimentary, calling him “an imaginative and skilful director.” The director himself clearly enjoyed his career, and was once quoted as saying, “You know, there's really nothing like an exciting film on a big screen. Hopefully, I've made a few in my career.”
from Empire News
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