LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) Producer and screenwriter Gloria Katz, 76, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles Nov. 25 after a battle with ovarian cancer.
Katz had teamed with her husband, William Huyck, and George Lucas on several projects including Lucas’ “American Graffiti,” earning her and her husband an Oscar nomination for best screenplay in 1974.
The duo have also said they were uncredited authors for “Star Wars.” She said last year that Lucas had “a lot of reservations” about his script and, “He said, ‘Polish it – write anything you want and then I’ll go over it and see what I need.’ … George didn’t want anyone to know we worked on the script, so we were in a cone of silence.”
A secret #StarWars script doctor who, along with husband Willard Huyck, wrote much of the movie's most quotable dialogue, Gloria Katz has sadly died at 76. Together with Williard, she also wrote American Graffiti, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and, yes, Howard the Duck. pic.twitter.com/a6RO5OG7ro
— Marshall Julius (@MarshallJulius) November 29, 2018
The Hollywood Reporter quoted Katz as saying they shaped Carrie Fisher’s Leia into someone who “can take command,” not “just a beautiful woman that schlepped along to be saved.”
Katz and Huyck also collaborated on projects like “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and she co-wrote screenplays like “Messiah of Evil,” “Best Defense” and “Radioland Murders.” She also had the unenviable qualification of being a writer for famed clunker “Howard The Duck,” directed by Huyck.
Katz reportedly died on their 49th wedding anniversary.
She said that Lucas had "a lot of reservations" about the Star Wars script: "He said, 'Polish it — write anything you want'" — "George didn't want anyone to know we worked on the script, so we were in a cone of silence" https://t.co/huuU7eBmms
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 29, 2018
