James Foley, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross' and ‘Fifty Shades of Grey' director, dies at 71
James Foley, a journeyman director best known for 'Glengarry Glen Ross,' has died. He was 71.
He died earlier this week after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, his representative, Taylor Lomax, said Friday.
In his long and varied career, Foley directed Madonna music videos, 12 episodes of 'House of Cards' and the two 'Fifty Shades of Grey' sequels, but it was his 1992 adaptation of David Mamet's foulmouthed Pulitzer Prize winning play that stood above the rest. Although it wasn't a hit at the time, 'Glengarry Glen Ross' wormed its way into the culture and grew into an oft-quoted cult favorite, especially Alec Baldwin's made-for-the-film 'always be closing' monologue.
Critic Tim Grierson wrote 20 years after its release that it remains 'one of the quintessential modern movies about masculinity.' He added, 'while there are many fine Mamet movies, it's interesting that the best of them was this one — the one he didn't direct.'
Born on Dec. 28, 1953, in Brooklyn, Foley studied film in graduate school at the University of Southern California. Legend has it that Hal Ashby once wandered into a film school party where his short happened to be playing at the time and he took a liking to him. Foley would later attribute his ability to make his first feature, 'Reckless,' a 1984 romantic drama about mismatched teenagers in love starring Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn and Adam Baldwin, to the Ashby stamp of approval. It was also the first screenplay credited to Chris Columbus, though there were reports of creative differences.
He followed it with the Sean Penn crime drama 'At Close Range,' the Madonna and Griffin Dunne screwball comedy 'Who's That Girl' and the neo-noir thriller 'After Dark, My Sweet,' with Jason Patric. Critic Roger Ebert included 'After Dark, My Sweet' in his great movies list, calling it 'one of the purest and most uncompromising of modern film noir' despite having been 'almost forgotten.'
He also directed several music videos for Madonna including 'Papa Don't Preach,' 'Live to Tell,' and 'Who's That Girl,' and an episode of 'Twin Peaks.'
Foley adapted John Grisham and worked with Gene Hackman on 'The Chamber' and made the Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg teenage love-gone-scary thriller 'Fear,' as well as the largely derided Halle Berry and Bruce Willis psychological thriller 'Perfect Stranger,' which was released in 2007.
It would be a decade before his next film was released, when he was given the reigns to the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' sequels, 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed.'
'For me, what's most challenging is stuff that doesn't involve the actors, oddly enough — in three, there's a big car chase and there's different stunts and stuff and that stuff really bores me,' he told The Associated Press at the UK premiere of 'Fifty Shades Darker.' 'So when the actors aren't around, that's difficult because the actors give me so much energy and kind of engagement and a car driving by doesn't do the same thing.'
Foley was not an easily definable director, but that was by design. In 2017, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he had no interest in repeating himself.
'I've always just followed my nose, for better or for worse, sometimes for worse,' Foley said. 'What's best and what's worst (about the industry) are almost the same to me. What's worst is you get pigeonholed and what's best is I haven't been. It means that I'm still making movies, despite hopping all over the place.'
Foley is survived by his brother, Kevin Foley, and sisters Eileen and Jo Ann.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
I'm choosing to leave for the U.S. for a unicorn job. Does that make me a traitor to Canada?
Social Sharing This First Person column is the experience of Alice Nelson, who is a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. In January 2025, I got a call to go for a job interview at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). They were looking for a professor to lead a new theatre arts degree program. My friend Claire said, "That's a unicorn job!" "What's a unicorn job?" I asked. "It's a job where they're looking for someone very specific and you are that unicorn." A typical tenure-track job will get 100 applicants. I was feeling like one very, very lucky unicorn. I had to make a difficult choice: stay in my tenured job teaching theatre in Windsor, Ont., where my career was at a standstill or move to the U.S. to start over. It was a choice further complicated by the trade war initiated by Donald Trump and his claims that Canada should become the 51st state of the U.S. A big move Seven years earlier, I was living in Calgary and had been working contract jobs as a theatre artist and educator. On my 40th birthday, I landed a tenure-track position as an assistant professor in the school of dramatic art at the University of Windsor. My partner, Oly, and I had community and family in Calgary. I wasn't sure if he would want to go with me. But when I told him I got the job, he smiled and said, "I guess we're moving to Windsor." We packed up and drove across the country with our two dogs to start our new life in Ontario. Fast-forward to July 2024, I achieved tenure and became an associate professor. That same month, University Players, our students' mainstage, which gives them the opportunity to apply their training, was shut down. The six staff members who taught students the production side of theatre lost their jobs in the department. The school also decided to halt new enrollment in the acting program. In September, a guest speaker at UWindsor's Senate repeated over and over: "Nobody is coming to save us" — referring to Canadian universities. And it's true — every day there's an article about programs being cut at another Canadian university or college due to underfunding from provincial governments, the impact of tuition freeze and a recent federal cap on international student permits (which has hit Ontario hard). Yup, nobody is coming to save us. I felt like one of the violinists on the Titanic. "Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you tonight." Concerned for my future, I started job hunting. I'm a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, so I was looking in both countries, hoping to find something in my field. Theatre faces deep cuts Over the next year, I made it a goal to foster opportunities for students who had lost a ton of performance opportunities. I directed a radio play version of A Christmas Carol, organized a Thrille r flash mob, ran an improv club and directed Kristen Thomson's comedy, The Wedding Party, in our smaller studio theatre. During the hiring process with UTA, I was asked why I wanted to leave a job that I loved, where I had tenure and was thriving. To which I answered honestly: Our mainstage was cut, the acting program was not accepting any students next fall and our university had (at the time) a projected $30-million deficit. A couple of weeks later, I was offered the job. Then, things started to change politically between the U.S. and Canada. Trump started making tariff threats to Canada and goading that it should be the 51st state. I found the rhetoric ridiculous, and like others, felt an upswell in Canadian patriotism. The response through protests and social media was also "Elbows up," encouraging Canadians to get ready to fight. Given the context, my parents were worried about me moving to the U.S., and friends expressed their concerns. On top of that, my partner is not a dual citizen, and we aren't married. That meant he couldn't move with me easily. While my contract was being drawn up, I had a month to agonize over the decision, visit an immigration lawyer and convince my parents that I was a unicorn. On my overanalyzed pro and con list, some pros were: I could work in my field, direct plays and there would be no shovelling. Some cons were: Living apart from my partner until we get married and get him citizenship, leaving my students before they graduate, the lack of universal health care, targeting of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in the U.S., restrictions on women's bodily autonomy, racism and deportation, etc. This list could go on and on. Also, no Tim Hortons. The idea of being a Canadian in the U.S. in 2025 is complicated, and I feel guilty leaving at a time when I want to back my country. I've had some people give me a hard time about moving to the U.S. One person called me a traitor. Am I? I want to stay in Canada, but I also want to support my family financially. I have to remind myself and friends who don't want me to move that not all Americans are bad. A lot of them didn't vote for Trump, and my mom's side of the family in the U.S. are Democrats. I joke about the lack of Tim Hortons because I fear telling the truth in public will get me flagged at the border, and I won't be able to cross. Yet, I'm American, and as a citizen, I can't be denied entry. After a lot of thought, I took the job. The Canadian part of me doesn't want to leave, but the American part of me is relieved I can work in my field in the U.S., as there are no opportunities in my field in Canada right now — they are disappearing. Well, I better get packing. This unicorn, Canadian at heart, is riding off into the sunset with her saddlebag of theatre books, two dogs, a wedding date set and hope for the future.
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Globe and Mail
'Roadblock': Paramount Stock (NASDAQ:PARA) Surges as the Trump Settlement Sputters
As it turns out, entertainment giant Paramount (PARA) was actually fairly close to a deal with President Trump over the 60 Minutes lawsuit. But, when the deal was fairly close, a 'roadblock' emerged and put a halt to the whole matter, at least for now. Investors reacted with surprising strength, and perhaps even more surprising positivity. Paramount shares gained nearly 2.5% in the closing minutes of Friday's trading. Confident Investing Starts Here: The settlement had reached $35 million, reports noted, when Paramount suddenly found itself paralyzed by indecision. That delay caused Trump lawyers to pivot and pull back to their original demand, calling for a $50 million settlement. The biggest problem seems to be that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is also involved in this, and needs to sign off on the merger with Skydance as well. Reports suggested that Paramount brass believes that the FCC's sign-off on the deal needs to be contingent on settling the case, but by like token, the idea that requiring FCC approval as part of the settlement looks a lot like a bribe. Trump's legal team, reports note, has already been clear that the Trump suit and the FCC case are two separate matters. But with outside organizations looking to launch their own lawsuits should the settlement go through, looks may count for more here than anyone expected. South Park Losses Mount Meanwhile, as Paramount faces the prospect of losing South Park exclusivity, it quietly pulled another old episode from the field. The pull this time showed up in the Canadian and Australian markets, reports noted, and this time, featured Butters' Very Own Episode pulled from Paramount+. Why, however, is a bit of a mystery. Several South Park episodes are apparently a bit too spicy for streaming, in retrospect, with around a dozen classic episodes set to be pulled from the catalog and relegated to a 'ban list', reports noted. The reports got stranger as an Australian viewer noted that the Paramount+ listing had been pulled, but the episode could still be watched by watching through Paramount+ on Amazon (AMZN) Prime Video. Is Paramount Stock a Good Buy Right Now? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on PARA stock based on two Buys, eight Holds and five Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 18.62% rally in its share price over the past year, the average PARA price target of $12.08 per share implies 2.23% downside risk. See more PARA analyst ratings Disclosure Disclaimer & Disclosure Report an Issue
CBC
a day ago
- CBC
Materialists director Celine Song was once a NYC matchmaker
For The National, CBC's Eli Glasner spoke to Materialists director Celine Song about what she learned during her time as a matchmaker in New York City and why she thinks the transactional nature of modern dating doesn't match what love really is.
