Befitting farewell: Iconic director James Foley dies at 71
James Foley, a New York director known for working with stars like Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Madonna, and Mark Wahlberg, has died at 71. For over 30 years, he created films, television series, and music videos, leaving a lasting mark on the entertainment industry.
James Foley passed away "peacefully in his sleep earlier this week" at his home in Los Angeles after a "long battle" with brain cancer, his representative reported.
Born on December 28, 1953, and raised in New York, he graduated with a degree in film studies from New York University and USC in Los Angeles. His career gained momentum after meeting Hal Ashby at a student party.
I'll never know whether he was just being polite, but he told me that he liked it and that he was going to form a company to produce other people's movies and asked me what I wanted to do. He said that I could write something and direct it, Foley reminisced in an interview with the "Hollywood Reporter."
In 1984, he debuted with the film "Reckless," starring Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah. He then began a fruitful collaboration with Madonna, directing her music videos for hits like "Dress You Up," "Live to Tell," "Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue," and "The Look of Love." In 1987, he directed the film "Who's That Girl," starring Madonna.
In the following years, he worked on films such as "At Close Range" (1986) with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken and "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992), with a star-studded cast that included Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin. Pacino received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this film.
In 1996, he directed the thriller "Fear," which starred Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon and helped boost their careers. He later worked on films such as "The Chamber," "The Corruptor," "Confidence," and "Perfect Stranger."
Afterwards, Foley transitioned to television, directing episodes for series such as "Hannibal," "House of Cards," and "Billions."
Renowned director James Foley has died. His films were hits
He returned to cinema, directing the last two parts of the "Fifty Shades" series — "Fifty Shades Darker" and "Fifty Shades Freed."
In an interview with the "Hollywood Reporter," he admitted that he always followed his own interests, regardless of the genre. "What I love is that it's fluid. I've had a very fluid career of ups and downs and lefts and rights, and I always just responded to what I was interested in at the moment and I was very unconscious about genre," he said.
