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Bruce Davis, Longtime Film Academy Chief Executive, Dies at 83
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In Short: Bruce Davis, who served as chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for over two decades, has passed away at the age of 83 following a battle with leukemia.
Bruce Davis, a longtime leader of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, died on Saturday after a prolonged fight with leukemia, his wife Joann confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Davis joined the Academy in 1981 and rose through the ranks to become executive director in 1989, a position he held until his retirement in 2011. During his tenure, he significantly expanded the Academy's staff and was instrumental in the development of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which opened in 2021.
In a career spanning nearly three decades, Davis was known for his dedication to the Academy and its mission. 'I don’t think I’ve been bored for a minute in 30 years here,' he told The upon his retirement.
His legacy includes the publication of 'The Academy and the Award: The Coming of Age of Oscar and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,' a comprehensive history of the organization that took 12 years to complete and was published by Brandeis University Press in 2022.
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- Born March 10, 1943 in Washington, D.C., Davis attended Juniata College in Pennsylvania, where he received an undergraduate degree in English, followed by a masters degree in Medieval Literature from the University of Maryland.
- In addition to his wife, Davis also is survived by their four daughters, according to THR.
- During the remainder of his tenure, Davis presided over day-to-day operations and staffing, which grew nearly four-fold to 200.
- You’ve never seen a movie quite like “ Bucking Fastard,” whose director, Werner Herzog, turned 84 while promoting it at the Venice Film Festival.
- Part bawdy sex comedy, part picaresque adventure, and fully an eccentric existential odyssey, the film stars real-life sisters Kate and Rooney Mara as nearly identical twins who speak, move, and desire in lockstep unison.
- The film was originally invited to play out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival, an offering Herzog rejected because he wanted to give his stellar actresses a chance to win prizes.
- The day after the film’s world premiere, IndieWire sat down with Herzog — who fills any room with a warm gravitas — to talk about “Bucking Fastard,” why he has no plans to stop making movies, and his relationship with David Lynch, to whom this film is dedicated.
Sources
- Deadlinelink