Jeremy Thomas, one of the film industry’s most highly respected independent producers with a body of work spanning more than half a century, has died. He was 77 years old.
Across his career, Thomas — who founded the Recorded Picture Company and later Hanway Films — helped bring to life more than 80 features, championing the work of both international cinema and daring auteur filmmakers in the process.
Within his vast library of films, Thomas also produced Jonathan Glazer’s debut feature “Sexy Beast,” David Cronbenberg “Crash,” Christopher Hampton’s “A Dangerous Method” and Nagisa Oshima’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.” Other directors he collaborated with, many across multiple films, would include Jim Jarmusch, Takashi Miike, Werner Herzog, Terry Gilliam, Richard Linklater, Karel Reisz, Phillip Noyce, David Mackenzie, Jerzy Skolimowski, Ben Wheatley and Wim Wenders.
The son of director Ralph Thomas (who directed many “Doctor” films) and nephew of Gerald Thomas (who directed all of the “Carry On” films), Thomas was born in London in 1949. He began working in the industry immediately after leaving school, helping in the cutting rooms for films including “The Harder They Come” and “Family Life,” eventually rising to edit Ken Loach’s 1973 TV short “A Misfortune.”
