The director of such wide-ranging fare as Glengarry Glen Ross, the Fifty Shades sequels, a lot of Madonna's music videos, and a dozen episodes of House of Cards died this week at age 71. James Foley died "peacefully in his sleep" at his Los Angeles home after a yearslong brain cancer battle, his rep tells the Hollywood Reporter. Foley broke onto the showbiz scene after he met Hal Ashby, the director of Harold and Maude, when the Brooklyn-born Foley was in grad school at USC and showing a student film. Ashby liked it, and through that connection, Foley ultimately nabbed his feature film directorial debut, Reckless, in 1984, Variety reports.
He went on to direct many of Madonna's music videos, as well as the Material Girl's 1987 film Who's That Girl. He worked with many big names, including Sean Penn and Christopher Walken on At Close Range; Jason Patric and Bruce Dern in After Dark, My Sweet; Gene Hackman and Chris O'Donnell in The Chamber; Edward Burns, Rachel Weisz, Andy Garcia, Dustin Hoffman and Paul Giamatti on Confidence; Halle Berry and Bruce Willis on Perfect Stranger; and of course, Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and Kevin Spacey in Glengarry Glen Ross. His 1996 movie Fear is credited with pushing along the careers of stars Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon.
He also worked in television, directing 12 episodes of House of Cards, an episode of Twin Peaks, and more. He returned to the big screen later to take over the Fifty Shades franchise, directing the final two films. "You have to know when to apply or relieve pressure," he once said of his directing style. "You have to make the actors aware that you're empathetic. The best actors want to be directed. Once you're on the same wavelength, you get incredible results." (More obituary stories.)
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