Chuck Russell, the director behind cult comedy and horror classics that launched the likes of Jim Carrey into stardom, has died.
Russell, who directed The Mask, The Blob and Scorpion King, among other box office hits, died ‘unexpectedly’ on Wednesday.
His death was confirmed by his lawyer to Variety.
His family told TMZ that he was found at his San Diego-area home, with firefighters responding to reports of an unconscious man.
They are flying to California to help determine his cause of death.
Born May 9, 1952, in Park Ridge, Illinois, Russell attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he had two ‘really good’ professors who inspired him to give filmmaking a go.
He spent a decade working in Hollywood before making his directorial debut in 1987.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors set the tone of Russell’s filmmaking style: Freddy Krueger, a fedora-wearing teen killer, sneaking into the wild, special effect-filled nightmares of teenagers.
Russell’s second film, The Blob, was just that as well. A remake of the cult 1958 horror movie starring Steve McQueen, Russell helped bring to life a monster made of pink goo that dissolved its victims in acid.
Speaking with The San Francisco Chronicle at the time, he said he loved the ‘weird, wonderful business’ of Hollywood in the 1980s.
But it was his third film, The Mask, that helped Russell become a household name in 1994.
He once again used his love of brash, zany special effects and props to put Carrey in the role of a green-faced, zoot-suit-wearing ding-a-ling whose eyes bulge out of his head.
The screenwriter worked with George Lucas’s motion picture visual effects studio, Industrial Light and Magic, on The Mask.
The film, which also featured a breakout performance from Cameron Diaz, was a major hit, grossing nearly £264million worldwide.
Two years later, teamed up with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the action-thriller Eraser.
Russell’s next big hit, The Scorpion, in 2002, saw Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson take on his first leading role in the spin-off to popular The Mummy adventure films.
The director’s final film was Witchboard, a remake of the 1986 horror starring Tawny Kitaen, released in 2024.
On top of films, Rysselll is also credited as producer on 1980s comedies like Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Back to School and Collateral.
Russell is survived by his wife Ania, who he married in 2007, and his children Logan, Riley and Carlyn, as well as his sister Anne Jacob.
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