An accomplished director, screenwriter, and producer named Bob Rafelson passed away Friday at the age of 89. The news was confirmed by his wife, Gabrielle Taurek Rafelson, who also stated that he passed away on July 23 with his loved ones at his side.
As a result of his battle with lung cancer, Rafelson passed away. Having said that, no details regarding his funeral have been made public.
Bob Rafelson’s entertainment industry career
On the television program Play of the Week, Bob Rafelson started his career as a story editor. He wrote one episode of The Witness in 1960, and then he wrote an episode of The Greatest Show on Earth in 1963.
In 1962, Rafelson and his family relocated to Hollywood where he started working as an associate producer on various television shows and motion pictures.
The two co-founded Raybert Productions in 1965 after meeting producer Bert Schneider, with their first endeavor being a TV show centered on a rock ‘n’ roll band.
The show was inspired by Rafelson’s misadventures while playing in a band in Mexico. The Monkees was a two-season television series that aired on NBC. The group also won a 1967 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series while serving as producers.
After that, Rafelson and Schneider launched the record company Colgems and worked on the film Head. The screenplay was co-written by Jack Nicholson, and they went on to collaborate on a few other movies, including Five Easy Pieces, The King of Marvin Gardens, and others.
In 1969, Raybert Productions released Easy Rider, their second movie. Due to its success, the company was able to launch more projects.
The company changed its name to BBS Productions after Stephen Blauner, a childhood friend of Schneider’s, joined the ensemble. Their list of notable works includes The Last Picture Show, Hearts and Minds, and Five Easy Pieces. The latter got four Academy Award nominations.
The King of Marvin Gardens, which was published in 1972, was directed by Rafelson later. Despite not being as well-liked as Five Easy Pieces, it was BBS Productions’ final film.
The following project for Rafelson was the 1976 comedy-drama Stay Hungry, which was adapted from a Charles Gaines book. He started working on another film, Brubaker, in 1978 but was fired after only 10 days.
In films like The Postman Always Ring Twice, Black Widow, Mountains of the Moon, Blood, and Wine, and others, Rafelson and Jack Nicholson continued to be romantically involved in 1981. He has written for both John Brockman’s book The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years and the Los Angeles Times Magazine.
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