Oscar-winning producer and casting director Fred Roos has died at age 89, just four days shy of his 90th birthday.
Francis Ford Coppola who worked with Roos on The Godfather films led tributes Tuesday, as well as actress Aubrey Plaza who stars in Coppola’s latest film Megalopolis.
‘Fred Roos possessed a casting instinct that was near infallible: so beautifully demonstrated in AMERICAN GRAFFITTI and THE OUTSIDERS,’ Coppola, 85, wrote in his tribute, alongside a picture of the pair together.
He added: ‘He was a great lifelong friend and collaborator with above all a true love for movies.
‘I remember once telling him that we needed to find more women directors but that we should look for them among kids playing with 8mm movie-making equipment rather than dolls — and he came up with kids named Martha Coolidge and Susan Seidelman.
Oscar-winning producer Fred Roos has died at age 89, just four days shy of his 90th birthday
Francis Ford Coppola who worked with Fred Roos (right) on The Godfather Part II led tributes Tuesday to the producer
‘He was a unique talent and will certainly be missed,’ added Coppola.
Plaza, 39, shared a photo of Roos to her Instagram Story. ‘Thank you Fred,’ she wrote. ‘It was an honor to know you…’
Shia LaBeouf, who also stars in Megalopolis, wrote on X (formerly Twitter, ‘The nights flame with fire. As you ride life straight to perfect laughter. Fred Roos – I loved you alot.’
Author SE Hinton paid tribute to Roos after he and Coppola worked on the 1983 screen adaptation of her book The Outsiders.
‘Just lost a good friend & supporter of mine, Fred Roos, the legendary casting director,’ she wrote in a post. ‘Would have been 90 today. Working til the very end. I will miss him.’
Rob Lowe, who played Sodapop Curtis in The Outsiders, also thanked Roos for providing the actor with his big break.
‘Saddened to hear of the passing of Fred Roos. Every movie lover should know his name,’ he wrote on X.
‘He was a casting genius and responsible for the careers of: Harrison Ford, Al Pacino, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Tom Cruise and the rest of The Outsiders cast (including me), and many others,’ added Lowe, 60. ‘Thank you, Fred and godspeed.’
Roos was born May 22, 1934 in Santa Monica, California, where he majored in theater arts and motion pictures at UCLA.
Aubrey Plaza shared a tribute to Roos on her Instagram Story after working with him and Coppola on Megalopolis
Author SE Hinton remembered Roos as a ‘good friend and supporter’ after he and Coppola worked on the 1983 screen adaptation of her book The Outsiders
Roos was born May 22, 1934 in Santa Monica, California, where he majored in theater arts and motion pictures at UCLA
His career in Hollywood began as a casting director on shows like The Andy Griffith Show, I Spy and Rango.
Roos then worked as a casting director on the Coppola films The Godfather and American Graffiti (both 1972).
After joining Coppola as a co-producer on The Godfather Part II (1974), which won the Oscar for Best Picture, Roos reunited with the filmmaker on the Oscar-nominated Apocalypse Now (1979) and many other titles over the years.
He also produced such Sofia Coppola movies as The Virgin Suicides (1999), Lost in Translation (2003), Marie Antionette (2006), Somewhere (2010), The Bling Ring (2013), The Beguiled (2017) and Priscilla (2023).
Roos’ death comes days after Francis and the cast of Megalopolis attended the movie’s world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.