Late Robert Watts ‘one of five people‘ who got ‘Star Wars’ made
After his death aged 86, Robert Watts has been praised as “one of five people” who got ‘Star Wars’ made.
Robert Watts was “one of five people” who got ‘Star Wars’ made.
The passing of the revered Hollywood production hero, renowned for collaborating with George Lucas to produce ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones’, was announced on Tuesday (01.10.24), with Julian Owen at Alliance Agents confirming he’d died aged 86.
It prompted a string of heartfelt tributes from Robert’s former colleagues.
Among them was one from Roger Christian – a set decorator who won an Oscar for his work on ‘Star Wars’.
He said on Facebook Robert was “one of five people who really stood by George and our tiny art department to get ‘Star Wars’ made”.
Mr Owen told The Hollywood Reporter about British-born production titan Robert’s death: “We were with him for a decade taking him to conventions all over the world, where he could connect with fans and talk about his career.”
Robert was said to have died on Monday (30.09.24) in his sleep at his home in East Sussex.
Along with his work with director Steven Spielberg to produce ‘Indiana Jones’, Robert worked on pioneering live animation ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, which came out in 1988, as well as ‘An American Tail: Fievel Goes West’ three years later.
He was production supervisor under the production designer John Barry on ‘Star Wars’, with the pair travelling to Morocco and Tunisia to scout locations, and he went on to do third unit directing.
He said in a 2011 interview about the experience: “We were under a great deal of pressure from 20th Century Fox.
“They were under great financial problems themselves and did not believe in the movie.
“At the time, we were the only Fox movie then shooting anywhere in the world. “Their eyes were focused on us, and George was under a great deal of pressure. As a result so were we all.”
Robert went on to become associate producer on ‘Star Wars’ sequel ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ in 1980, and was co-producer on its follow-up ‘Return of the Jedi’, which came out three years later.
