Oscar-nominated film director Charles Shyer, known for adding a funny touch to classic Hollywood films like “Private Benjamin” and “Father of the Bride,” has passed away at 83. He died on Friday, but the reason for his death has not been made public.
He died, and his family said, “His loss leaves an unfillable hole in our lives, but his legacy lives on through his children and the five decades of wonderful work he’s left behind.” Thank you for the wonderful life he lived. There will never be another person like him.
From the beginning, Shyer’s path in Hollywood seemed set in stone. He was born in Los Angeles to Lois Delaney and Melville Shyer, who worked as a production assistant and film director with D.W. Griffith. He started working in the movie business after going to UCLA to study. He started his career as an apprentice at the DGA. Then he switched to writing and worked as an assistant to Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson on “The Odd Couple.” He worked until he was the show’s head writer and associate producer.
“Private Benjamin,” which he wrote with Nancy Meyers and Harvey Miller, gave him his big break in 1980. Goldie Hawn was in the comedy, which got Shyer nominated for an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America award for Best Original Screenplay. Because of this success, he worked well with Meyers and married her in 1990.
One of the most famous comedy writing teams in Hollywood was Shyer and Meyers. They produced “Irreconcilable Differences,” “Baby Boom,” and the famous “Father of the Bride” films starring Steve Martin and Diane Keaton. Many of these projects were directed by Shyer, who was great at combining humor with real human feelings.
Later in the 1990s, they worked together again on a new version of “The Parent Trap,” directed by Meyers and starring Lindsay Lohan. Shyer continued to work after they split in 1999, directing films like “The Affair of the Necklace” (2001) and a new version of “Alfie” (2004) starring Jude Law.
Even as he grew older, Shyer kept working in the field. In addition to serving as co-writer and producer for the holiday film “Best Christmas Ever!” in 2023, he wrote and directed the Netflix film “The Noel Diary.” He also wrote well-known films like “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977) and “House Calls” (1978), the latter of which got him nominated for a WGA award earlier in his career.
Shyer leaves behind four children, one of whom is the filmmaker Hallie Meyers-Shyer, who has followed in her parents’ path. His death marks the end of an amazing career that changed American comedy cinema for decades and left behind films that still make people laugh worldwide.
