Rafelson’s death was confirmed by his former personal assistant of 38 years, Jolene Wolff, who worked under Rafelson’s production banner Marmont Productions. Wolff stated that Rafelson died peacefully, surrounded by his family.
Starring Jack Nicholson as Bobby Dupea, “Five Easy Pieces” was a character-driven road movie reflecting Rafelson’s view of an outsider suffering from deep, undisclosed pain. In an interview, Rafelson, the son of a hat maker and abusive, alcoholic mother, said that Dupea was a character in need of escape. “I had been trying to escape from my background since I was 14 years old,” Rafelson said.
Ironically, Rafelson’s professional relationship with Nicholson began with much lighter fare. “Head” , which the director co-wrote with Nicholson, starred, a fabricated rock group modeled on the Beatles. They were just coming off the hit NBC series of the same name created by Rafelson and Schneider. The show ran from 1966-68, winning Rafelson an Emmy for comedy series in 1967.
Rafelson studied philosophy at Dartmouth College, where Buck Henry became a close friend. He worked as a disc jockey, edited translations of subtitles for Japanese films and, in 1959, became a story editor on David Susskind’s “Play of the Week” TV series, where he wrote “additional dialogue” for writers like Shakespeare and Ibsen. In 1963, Rafelson was fired after a heated dispute with MCA’s Lew Wasserman over the short-lived series “Channing.
Rafelson received some good notices in 1990 for “Mountains of the Moon,” about explorer Sir Richard Burton, but 1992’s “Man Trouble,” which reunited the director with Nicholson and “Five Easy Pieces” screenwriter Carole Eastman, and 1998 HBO TV movie “Poodle Springs,” with James Caan as detective Philip Marlowe, did not fare well with audiences or critics.
RIP Bob Rafelson
jaketapper Okay good. Go Brady Go..
TrggsHollwMomma matt__mccormick HEY HEY fuck.
donwinslow RIP
donwinslow 😢
donwinslow 🙏🙏🙏
WIBC_EricBerman ☹️
Five Easy Pieces was a revelation to me. I could teach a whole film course out of that movie. For some people it was Godard or Truffault that showed them what film could do. For me it was Rafelson. RIP
jaketapper
jaketapper RIP. Always enjoy Five Easy Pieces.
When we worked with him, my husband told him he had hemorrhoids. Bob told him to sit in the tub with Epsom salts. Not only a great director, wonderful to work with, he also gave helpful medical advice! He will be missed.
RIPBobRafelson Criterion
Thank you BobRafelson especially for giving generations TheMonkees and DaddysSong from Head.Brilliance from DavyJones and ToniBasil and ahead of its time editing. Best casting ever for a television show and a band. Makes their accomplishments even more impressive. R.I.P.
Peace out, Bob.
the_60s_at_60 Bob Rafelson also produced Hearts & Minds (directed by Peter Davis) which, for my money, is the best film ever made about the Vietnam War
Bless this man.
Bob Rafelson R.I.P. 😢🙏💙
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