Producer Fred Roos, who won an Oscar for work on movies like “The Godfather Part II” and “Apocalypse Now,” has died.
The famous actor and director often worked with Francis Ford Coppola. He was 89 years old.
Fred’s first job was as a casting director for old movies like American Graffiti.
Reports from Variety say that he helped find famous actors like Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Carrie Fisher, and Richard Dreyfuss.
Fred worked with the director on a number of projects after becoming close with Francis.
He would also take care of Sofia Coppola when she was young, which was another important job for the director.
Fred’s most recent job was as casting director and executive producer on Francis’s new movie Megalopolis, which had its world premiere last week at the Cannes Film Festival.
Fred did more than just work with the famous director. He also helped with casting the first Star Wars movie.
Variety says that at the time, Fred talked George Lucas into letting a young actor who was working on some cabinets for him try out for the space opera.
Harrison Ford played that part.
After seeing American Graffiti, Fred told Entertainment Weekly, “I had already brought him to George’s attention.” “He was great, but they were filming all night, and he had only worked on the movie for about 10 days.” It wasn’t like George knew him well.
A publicist said that Fred died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills.
Sarah Drew, his wife, and Alexander “Sandy” Roos, their son and business partner in production, survive him.