Chuck Russell, the director and screenwriter known for films including The Mask, The Blob and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, died on July 22 at age 74, his wife Ania Zeyne confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Zeyne said Russell was found unresponsive at his home in San Diego. According to TMZ, fire department personnel responded to a medical emergency involving an unconscious man at the residence on July 23 but were unable to revive him.
Russell, whose birth name was Charles Raymond Russell, made a major mark in Hollywood over a career that included directing 1994’s The Mask with Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz. The film’s visual effects work by George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic earned an Oscar.
He also directed Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser, Kim Basinger in Bless This Child, Dwayne Johnson in The Scorpion King, and John Travolta in I Am Wrath and Paradise City. Russell is also credited as the writer of the 1984 film Dreamscape, and he is survived by his wife and his children Logan, Riley and Carlyn from a previous marriage.
