Died at 83
male
David Giler (July 23, 1943 – December 19, 2020) was an American filmmaker who has been active in the motion picture industry since the early 1960s. He started his career as a writer, providing scripts for television programs such as Kraft Suspense Theatre and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. He then moved to screenplays in the 70's, helping to write films such as The Parallax View and the original version of Fun With Dick and Jane. He produced his first film in 1970, the critically reviled Myra Breckinridge, an adaptation of Gore Vidal's controversial novel (he also co-wrote the film with director Michael Sarne). He helped Walter Hill produce the legendary horror thriller Alien in 1979, and it is for this film that he is probably best remembered. He and Hill became embroiled in a much-publicized behind-the-scenes fight with Alien's original writer, Dan O'Bannon, over who was to receive screenplay credit. Giler and Hill claim that they completely rewrote the script from top to bottom, and therefore they wanted to relegate O'Bannon to a "story by" credit only. O'Bannon claims that they did little more than change the names of the characters and dialogue, and felt that the two were trying to bully him out of the more prestigious screenplay credit. As evidenced by the interviews on the supplemental DVD features, the two parties were extremely antagonistic when it comes to this topic (O'Bannon has since died), though O'Bannon was the only one to receive credit for the screenplay in the final film. The various drafts can be found online, allowing audiences to decide for themselves. Giler worked with Hill on several more projects, including the continuation of the Alien franchise. The two were responsible for the final and very controversial rewrite of the Alien 3 story which killed off the Bishop, Hicks and Newt characters from Aliens. Some of the films that he wrote during this period include The Money Pit, Southern Comfort, and an uncredited rewrite for Beverly Hills Cop II. He also directed one film, The Black Bird (1975). Description above from the Wikipedia article David Giler, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
David Giler
Executive Producer
for Executive Producer in Lonesome Dove (1995)
Suggested by mrtrescothik13
In the late 1870s, Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae and Captain Woodrow F. Call, two famous former Texas Rangers, run a livery in the small, dusty Texas border town of Lonesome Dove along the Rio Grande. Gus is an upbeat womanizer and twice a widower, and Call is a strict, stoic workaholic. Working with them are Joshua Deets, a black tracker and scout from their Ranger days, Pea Eye Parker, another former Ranger who works hard but is not very bright, and Bolívar, a retired Mexican bandit who is their cook. Also living with them is Newt Dobbs, a 17-year-old whose mother was a prostitute named Maggie and whose father may be any man on the ranch, save for Gus, who secretly knows who Newt's true father is.
