Charles Shire, who co-wrote and directed several hit comedies including “Private Benjamin,” “Baby Boom” and “Father of the Bride” — many of which had strong female leads and had previously Made together with his wife. , Nancy Meyers Died December 27 in Los Angeles. He was 83 years old.
Their daughters were Annie Meyersshire and Hayley Meyersshirewho is also a director, said he died in hospital after an unspecified brief illness.
Mr. Shire was practically raised by the film industry — his father, Melville Shire, was a founder of the Directors Guild of America — and his projects were based on his immense love for classic films.
His portfolio of inspiration was vast, including the famous, such as “His Girl Friday” (1940) and “North by Northwest” (1959), and the obscure, such as the 1973 funny British comedy “O Lucky Man.” !”, which he rated. Among his favorite films.
He and Ms. Meyers were both romantic and professional partners. They were already dating when they collaborated with Harvey Miller on the script for the 1980 film “Private Benjamin,” about a socialite who enlists in the U.S. Army.
The film, directed by Howard Ziff and starring Goldie Hawn, was a huge hit – it grossed $69.8 million on a $9.2 million budget – and the writing trio earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Get more achievements. “Irreconcilable Differences” (1984), the first film Mr. Shire directed, was followed by “Baby Boom” (1987), “Father of the Bride” (1991) and its 1995 sequel, and “The Parent Trap” ( 1998), all written by Mr. Shire and Ms. Meyers. “Father of the Bride” and “The Parent Trap” were remakes of films that are themselves considered classics.
Many of his films featured strong female characters pushing against social norms. In “Baby Boom,” for example, Diane Keaton plays a hard-charging consultant who finds herself raising a child on her own.
“A few years ago, it should have been a man,” Mr. Shire told The Toronto Globe and Mail in 1986, “because it’s hard to think of a woman who doesn’t know how to handle a child.” But nowadays it is possible.”
He directed most of his films with Mrs. Meyers, although he switched places for “The Parent Trap,” his directorial debut.
Hollywood wegs called them “Schmyers,” not only because of the flamboyant nature of their collaboration but because of its rigor—they worked out of a one-room building behind their home in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles. Each faces the other across a writing desk.
“I’ll put the scene down, and then I’ll — it’s like I’m narrating a movie — take out the paper and put it on the table, and he’ll pencil it,” Ms. Meyers said in an interview. will,” Ms. Meyers said in an interview. . “Sometimes he would put in scenes and then I would revise them. There was a romance to it.”
The couple married in 1995 and separated three years later. But they remained friends.
Throughout his films — and those Mr. Shire made after their breakup, such as “Alfie” (2004), which was also a remake — Mr. Shire dealt with domestic problems but left them with a generous dollop of humor. gave
He often recalled a bit of advice from one of his directors, Billy Wilder: “We all want the same thing, we writers and directors. We want to make them laugh and we want them to cry.”
that, He told Script magazine in 2022That’s what it’s all about.
“What he’s saying is you want to make a movie that’s fun, but has substance,” he said. “And I think that’s a big drive for me.”
Charles Richard Shire was born on October 11, 1941 in Los Angeles. His father was an assistant director and occasional director, and his mother, Lois (Jones) Delaney, managed the household.
He briefly attended the College of the Desert, Palm Desert, California, but left when he was accepted into an apprentice program run by the Directors Guild of America.
Mr. Shire worked in a number of low-profile films before turning to writing. Became an assistant. Gary Marshall And Jerry Belson Around this time, he adapted Neil Simon’s 1965 play “The Odd Couple” for television in 1970.
“I had to sit in on story meetings. And then when they were over I’d say things to Gary,” he told the script. “And he said, ‘That’s good. Speak more.’ And he would encourage me, and then he said, ‘You can be a writer.’
Mr. Shire earned writing credits on three films in the 1970s — 1977’s “Smoky and the Bandit” and 1978’s “House Calls” and “Goin’ South” — before joining Ms. Meyers and Mr. Miller on “Pvt. Team up on “Benjamin.” “
Mr. Shire’s first two marriages ended in divorce. His third marriage, to Mrs. Meyers, ended in 2000. He married Deborah Lynn in 2004. They divorced in 2009.
Along with his two daughters, from his marriage to Ms. Meyers, he is survived by Ms. Lynn, Jacob and Sophia Shire, and three grandchildren.
Mr. Shire’s last two films—“The Noel Diary“(2022), which they co-wrote and directed, and “Best Christmas ever!” (2023), which he co-wrote and produced – both made for Netflix.
He spoke warmly of his work for the streaming service, but also lamented how he saw the end of the theater-going experience.
“I think movie theaters are going the way of bookstores and record stores,” He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2022. “He’s not going to be around anymore, and that’s very sad for me. I’m grateful that I got to work while he was around.