George Armitage, who directed, wrote and produced movies together with “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “Miami Blues,” died Saturday in Playa del Rey, his son Brent confirmed. He was 83.
Raised in Hartford, Conn., Armitage began out within the twentieth Century Fox mailroom earlier than changing into affiliate producer on the long-running sequence “Peyton Place” within the Nineteen Sixties. He met Roger Corman on the Fox lot and moved into function movies, writing the Corman-produced 1970 comedy “Gas! – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.”
He continued making movies for Corman and his brother Gene Corman, shifting into directing with “Private Duty Nurses.” The 1972 Blaxploitation movie “Hit Man,” which he directed and co-wrote, starred Pam Grier and Bernie Casey. Next up was “Vigilante Force,” with Kris Kristofferson and Jan-Michael Vincent, and the TV film “Hot Rod.”
“Kaplan, Demme, Dante, Arkush and me… We were making little 45 RPM rock ’n’ roll movies. Same subject matter as early rock songs and same lack of respect until… This is what made us different even from Roger, who was half a generation ahead, a liberal but no rocker,” he instructed Film Comment in 2015.
Armitage’s subsequent movie as director, the 1990 comedic thriller “Miami Blues,” was based mostly on a Charles Willeford novel. Starring Alec Baldwin and Fred Ward, it garnered consideration for Jennifer Jason-Leigh’s efficiency. Also in 1990, Armitage co-wrote cop actioner “Last of the Finest.”
He was Emmy-nominated for co-writing the 1996 TV film “The Late Shift,” the story of the rivalry between David Letterman and Jay Leno over who would succeed Johnny Carson.
Armitage subsequent directed the well-received comedy “Grosse Pointe Blank,” starring Dan Aykroyd, John Cusack and Minnie Driver within the story of an expert murderer who is distributed to the suburb the place his highschool reunion is happening.
“With ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ I shot three movies simultaneously. We shot the script as written, we shot a mildly understated version, and we shot a completely over-the-top version, which usually was what was used. We cast that movie—and I’ve cast most movies—by having the actors come in and read, then throwing the script out and saying: “Okay, let’s improvise.” That’s what I used to be comfy with. I say to the actors: “You are creating the character. This is written, these are the parameters, this is the outline. Now you take this, make it your own, and bring me, bring me, bring me,” Armitage instructed Film Comment.
His ultimate credit score was the 2004 crime pic “The Big Bounce,” starring Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman in a narrative co-written by Elmore Leonard.
He was a longtime member of the WGA, DGA and the Academy.
He is survived by his spouse of 63 years, Sharon, son Brent, a writer-producer, and grandchildren Caroline and Nick.