Gary Kurtz

Gary Kurtz
Biographical information
Born	July 27, 1940
Died	September 23, 2018
Nationality	American
Career
Occupation	Film producer

Gary Kurtz was an American film producer best known for his work on the original Star Wars trilogy.

Biography

Gary Kurtz was born on July 27, 1940, in Los Angeles, California.

He produced Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, released in 1977, for which he was nominated for Academy Award. His daughter, Tiffany, played the Jawa Dathcha in the film. He then produced Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back which was released 1980. In the early 1980's, Kurtz co-produced The Dark Crystal, a joint venture between Lord Grade and Jim Henson, which was co-directed by Frank Oz.

Kurtz has claimed that he and George Lucas clashed over how to progress the Star Wars series. Kurtz recalled after Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, Lucas became convinced that audiences no longer cared about the story; they were simply there for thrills and entertainment, and he began to deviate from the original nine-episode bible starting with Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, at which point Kurtz quit the series. Kurtz has expressed his dissatisfaction with Return of the Jedi and Star Wars prequels. In recent years, Kurtz has acknowledged how the latter three films have impressive moments but could've better their substance had they had different filmmakers involved as well as how the new trilogy has divided fans.[1] Other sources have suggested that Kurtz was removed from the franchise by Lucas after he had allowed production on Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back to run seriously over-schedule and over-budget.

Kurtz accepted the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo Award for Star Wars at IguanaCon in 1978.

It is a matter of public record that Kurtz's final collaboration with Lucas, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, was an expensive and difficult production. Records at Elstree indicate that the movie took 175 shooting days having been budgeted at 100, which forced Lucas to borrow $10 million to complete the film. Kurtz had to help direct along with David Tomblin, Irvin Kershner, Harley Cokeliss and John Barry (who died during production of meningitis) to bring the film in on even this revised schedule and budget.

Kurtz's wife, Meredith, planned the film's 'wrap party' in late August 1979 and the Kurtzes hosted the affair. The actual completion of photography was a month later. Kurtz did not leave the movie before its completion and was actively involved from post production through its release in theatres in the U.S. and the UK. He was replaced by Howard Kazanjian for Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

He died on September 23, 2018 from cancer.

Sources

• Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
• The Star Wars Album
• Star Wars Souvenir Program
• The Jedi Master's Quizbook
• "Star Wars 10th Anniversary Convention!!" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 1
• "Mark Hamill: 10 Years Later" — The Lucasfilm Fan Club Magazine 3
• Empire Building: The Remarkable Real Life Story of Star Wars
• Rebel Rehearsal on Hyperspace (content obsolete and backup link not available)
• "The Art of War" — Star Wars Insider 160
• Much to Learn You Still Have: 7 Things You Might Not Know About Jawas on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Gary Kurtz Passes Away on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars: Build Your Own X-Wing 11 (Creating a Starship Fleet: The Ice Hangar – Filming the Rebel Base)
• Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – The Official Collector's Edition
• SWCA 2022: 6 Things We Learned From the Light & Magic Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)

External links

• Gary Kurtz on Wikipedia
• Gary Kurtz at the Internet Movie Database

In other languages

• Deutsch
• español
• français
• 한국어
• ქართული
• Nederlands
• polski