Richard Glatzer, filmmaker of Alzheimer’s drama ‘Still Alice,’ dies, Richard Glatzer, who co-wrote and directed “Still Alice,” a film that in February earned Julianne Moore an Academy Award for her portrayal of an academic suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease, died March 10 in Los Angeles. He was 63.
Mr. Glatzer’s husband, Wash Westmoreland, confirmed the death to the Los Angeles Times. The cause was complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Mr. Glatzer was diagnosed in 2011 with ALS and took on the project of “Still Alice” in a very early stage of the disease. He collaborated with Westmoreland, his partner on previous films.
During the 23-day shoot, Mr. Glatzer communicated with one finger using a text-to-speech app on his iPad. By the time of the press tour for the film in late 2014, Mr. Glatzer was only able to communicate by typing on the device with his big toe.
The parallels between Mr. Glatzer and their lead character’s degenerative diseases helped to inform the adaptation of author Lisa Genova’s best-seller.
“Many of the neurological appointments that Alice had in the book echoed appointments that Richard had had when they were testing to see if he’d had a stroke — like what’s today’s date, where are we, all that stuff. It was eerily similar,” Westmoreland told the Associated Press.
Richard Mark Glatzer was born in Queens, N.Y., on Jan. 28, 1952, and grew up on Long Island and in Livingston, N.J. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1973 and received a doctorate in English from the University of Virginia in 1978.
After settling in Los Angeles in the 1980s, he worked on television shows including “Road Rules,” “Divorce Court” and “America’s Next Top Model.” His first film as a writer and director was “Grief” (1993), which focuses on a tabloid-style show modeled on “Divorce Court.”
He met Westmoreland in 1995. The couple collaborated on four films as co-writers and directors, including “The Fluffer” (2001), a comedy about the gay-porn industry; “Quinceañera” (2006), about a Mexican American family in Los Angeles; and “The Last of Robin Hood” (2013), which starred Kevin Kline as swashbuckling Hollywood actor Errol Flynn in his final years.
In addition to Westmoreland, whom he married in 2013, Mr. Glatzer is survived by a daughter, Ruby Smith; and a sister.
Mr. Glatzer’s husband, Wash Westmoreland, confirmed the death to the Los Angeles Times. The cause was complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Mr. Glatzer was diagnosed in 2011 with ALS and took on the project of “Still Alice” in a very early stage of the disease. He collaborated with Westmoreland, his partner on previous films.
During the 23-day shoot, Mr. Glatzer communicated with one finger using a text-to-speech app on his iPad. By the time of the press tour for the film in late 2014, Mr. Glatzer was only able to communicate by typing on the device with his big toe.
The parallels between Mr. Glatzer and their lead character’s degenerative diseases helped to inform the adaptation of author Lisa Genova’s best-seller.
“Many of the neurological appointments that Alice had in the book echoed appointments that Richard had had when they were testing to see if he’d had a stroke — like what’s today’s date, where are we, all that stuff. It was eerily similar,” Westmoreland told the Associated Press.
Richard Mark Glatzer was born in Queens, N.Y., on Jan. 28, 1952, and grew up on Long Island and in Livingston, N.J. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1973 and received a doctorate in English from the University of Virginia in 1978.
After settling in Los Angeles in the 1980s, he worked on television shows including “Road Rules,” “Divorce Court” and “America’s Next Top Model.” His first film as a writer and director was “Grief” (1993), which focuses on a tabloid-style show modeled on “Divorce Court.”
He met Westmoreland in 1995. The couple collaborated on four films as co-writers and directors, including “The Fluffer” (2001), a comedy about the gay-porn industry; “Quinceañera” (2006), about a Mexican American family in Los Angeles; and “The Last of Robin Hood” (2013), which starred Kevin Kline as swashbuckling Hollywood actor Errol Flynn in his final years.
In addition to Westmoreland, whom he married in 2013, Mr. Glatzer is survived by a daughter, Ruby Smith; and a sister.
