The director ‘Father of the Bride’ dies

Charles Shyer, who directed hit comedies such as Father of the bridehas died at the age of 83.

A representative for Shyer confirmed this Weekly entertainment that the filmmaker died on Friday. A cause of death was not disclosed.

“It is with an indescribably heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of our beloved father Charles Shyer,” Shyer’s family said. Deadline. “His loss leaves an unfillable hole in our lives, but his legacy lives on through his children and the five decades of wonderful work he left behind. We honor the extraordinary life he led and know there will never be another like him .”

Born in Los Angeles in 1941 to Hollywood filmmaker Melville Shyer and Lois Delaney, Shyer attended the University of California, Los Angeles and worked as an assistant director through the Directors Guild of America’s apprenticeship program. He was an assistant to Odd couple producers Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson as one of his earliest jobs, and he became a writer on the show in 1971. He created the short-lived television comedy To come together same year, and also wrote an episode of The partridge family.

Shyer’s first feature writing came with 1977’s smash hit Smokey and the Bandit. He then wrote the Walter Matthau dramedy House call and Jack Nicholson’s directorial project Going south in 1978.

Perhaps the most defining project of Shyer’s writing career came with the 1980s Private Benjamin. The war satire starred Goldie Hawn as Judy Benjamin, a woman who enlists in the US Army, and ultimately earned Shyer an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The film also marked his first screenwriting collaboration with Nancy Meyers, whom he met while she was working as a story editor at Motown. The co-authors married in the same year Private Benjamin was released and went on to make a dozen films together.

Shyer made his directorial debut with 1984’s Irreconcilable differenceswhich he co-wrote with Meyers. The film starred Ryan O’Neal, Shelley Long and Drew Barrymore in one of her first big screen roles. In the same year, the couple wrote together Protocol with theirs Private Benjamin co-author, Harvey Miller. In 1986, Shyer and Meyers wrote together Jumpin’ Jack Flash under pseudonyms. Shyer returned to the director’s chair with 1987’s Baby boomanother gender-conscious comedy he co-wrote with Meyers. The film starred Diane Keaton, who went on to collaborate with the pair on several projects, as an ambitious Manhattan professional who unexpectedly inherits a distant relative’s young child.

The couple’s next film, the 1991s Father of the bridestarred Steve Martin and Keaton as a middle-aged couple struggling with the stress of their daughter’s wedding. The film, which was a remake of the 1950 comedy of the same name, became the biggest financial success of Shyer’s directorial career, earning $129 million at the box office. It spawned a sequel, the 1995s Father of the Bride Part IIwhich Shyer also directed from a script he co-wrote with Meyers, and which featured the entire core cast reprising their roles from the first film.

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Between their two Father of the bride film, the pair wrote together Once Upon a Crimeand Shyer directed the 1994s I love problemsa rom-com starring Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte, which he also co-wrote with Meyers. Four years later, Shyer co-wrote and produced Meyers’ directorial debut, the 1998 remake of The parent trap starring Lindsay Lohan.

Shyer and Meyers divorced in 1999, and Shyer’s first post-separation project was 2001’s The affair of the necklacea historical drama starring Hilary Swank that received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. He then managed the 2004s AlfieThe Jude Law remake of the 1966 romance led by Michael Caine. The film bombed at the box office, earning just $35 million on a $60 million budget, and Shyer didn’t direct another film until 2022’s Christmas rom-com Noel Diarywhich he co-wrote with Rebecca Connor and David Golden.

Shyer and Meyers reunited in 2017 Home againthe directorial debut of their daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer. Meyers served as a producer on the film, while Shyer served as second unit director.

Shyer’s last feature film credit came with 2023’s Best. Christmas. Ever!which he co-wrote and executive-produced. He is survived by his four children.