My Illness and the Death of a Writer/Producer

I can't say how many blog entries I'll be making this week. The past several days I have been sick. It seems that I have some sort of respiratory illness that attacks my eyes, head, nose, and throat. I think the sore throat is the worst part of it...I can barely talk. Anyhow, at the moment I don't feel much like sitting at the computer...

At any rate, a woman who paved the way for other women in the film industry has just passed on. You may not have heard of her, but more than likely you have seen one of her movies. Screenwriter and producer Debra Hill died today at age 54 after a long battle with cancer.

Hill began her film career in Hollywood as a script supervisor on such films as Goodbye, Norma Jean. Her big break came when she co-wrote Halloween with director John Carpenter. Not only did the film spawn a number of sequels, but it started a whole cycle towards slasher films. She also co-wrote The Fog with Carpenter. Among the films she produced were Escape From New York, The Dead Zone, Clue, and The Fisher King.

As both a writer and a producer, Hill made several movies that I dearly love. Indeed, at the time that she was working with John Carpenter I do believe the director was at his best. She also made her own way in an industry that, in the Seventies, was largely dominated by men. The fact she did this starting from the very bottom (script supervisor not being the most glamorous job...) is even more of a tribute to her. It is sad that she had to die so young.