Producer and director Gilbert Cates, who oversaw a record 14 Academy Awards ceremonies and founded the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, has died. He was 77.
Cates collapsed on the UCLA campus Monday evening. Emergency personnel responded but were unable to revive him, officials said Tuesday. The cause of death was not immediately known.
Cates last produced the Oscar telecast in 2008, when the ceremony was almost sidelined by the Writers Guild strike.
He was comfortable at the helm of the show, calling it “an absolutely great job.” He produced more Academy Awards telecasts than anyone else and brought in comedians such as Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart and Steve Martin to host the show.
Martin tweeted his condolences Tuesdsay. “So sorry to hear Gil Cates has died,” Martin wrote. “He helmed two Oscar shows I hosted. He was delightful, wise, canny and unperturbed. A great fellow.”
Singer Josh Groban also shared his thoughts on Twitter, writing, “So sad to hear of the passing of legendary TV producer Gil Cates. He gave me many great opportunities and was always extremely kind. RIP.”
Academy president Tom Sherak said Cates was a colleague, friend and a “consummate professional.”
Cates “gave the academy and the world some of the most memorable moments in Oscar history,” Sherak said in a statement. “His passing is a tremendous loss to the entertainment industry, and our thoughts go out to his family.”
Cates founded the School of Theater, Film and Television at UCLA. He was its dean from 1990 to 1998 and remained on the faculty as a professor.
Teri Schwartz, dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television, cited Cates as a “beloved mentor, colleague and friend.”
“Today we mourn our great loss but also celebrate Gil’s extraordinary vision and countless contributions, not only to (the school) as founding dean and distinguished professor but to the entertainment and performing arts industries and the education of our students, who benefited from his remarkable talent, insights, generosity, experience and wisdom,” she said in a statement.
Cates twice served as president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and was on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Taylor Hackford, president of the DGA, said, “There are few people in the history of the Guild who have matched Gil’s vision and influence on the organization and our industry. There was no greater champion of the creative and economic rights of directors and their teams and no truer friend to the membership, board and staff of the DGA. For more than fifty years, Gil has served the Guild –as president, as secretary-treasurer, as negotiations chair. It’s impossible to think of a single issue debated, program launched or battle fought on behalf of us all that didn’t have his special touch in its crafting.
“Gil Cates embodied this Guild,” continued Hackford. “Through his decades of service, he guided the Guild gently and charismatically and with great wisdom, and perhaps more importantly, he established what it meant to be a leader of this organization and the entertainment community. He was a fierce friend, an even fiercer negotiator and somebody you always hoped was on your side but respected even if he wasn’t. Gil was one of the lights of this organization and one of the central reasons that I became involved in Guild service. From the time I joined the Western Directors Council in 1996, Gil was a mentor to me, encouraging me to take leadership responsibility and providing guidance all along the way. I was honored to serve with him for these many years and will miss him greatly.”
Cates produced and directed films, television shows and plays on and off Broadway. His film credits include 1970’s “I Never Sang for My Father” with Gene Hackman, and 1980’s “Oh God! Book II” with George Burns.
He produced and directed plays at the Geffen Playhouse, where he was regarded as “our founder, our leader and our heart,” according to a statement Tuesday.
“Gil has always referred to the staff of the Geffen Playhouse as his second family,” said board chairman Frank Mancuso. “And it is as a family that we mourn this tremendous loss. Gil built this theater and he will forever be at the center of it–we honor his life by continuing the fulfillment of his dream. As my dear friend Gil would no doubt say, ‘onward and upward with the arts.'”
Cates is survived by his wife, Dr. Judith Reichman, four children, two stepchildren and six grandchildren.
Craig Henighan Sounds Off On “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Hollywood lore has it that character actor Edmund Gwenn--while on his deathbed--quipped, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The second part of that darkly witty utterance remains all too true today as Craig Henighan--a Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Oscar nominee in 2019 for Roma--can attest in that he had to grapple with the sonic of being comic for this year’s box office hit, Deadpool & Wolverine (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios).
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Henighan explained that among the prime challenges for him from a sound perspective was having to make sure every joke landed within the construct of a superhero film. The tendency for a tentpole movie of this variety, he noted, is to gravitate towards big, loud audio spanning music, dialogue and sound effects. But the unique comedic element of Deadpool & Wolverine necessitated that re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor Henighan strike a delicate balance. “You need to get out of the way for the comedy,” he related. The jokes in a superhero film become “a real dance” as Henighan had to establish a rhythm that did justice to both the comedy and the action as the narrative moves back and forth between them--and sometimes the funny and the high energy, high decibel superhero dynamic unfold simultaneously in a scene or sequence. The “sonic fabric” has to... Read More