The renowned Hollywood independent producer Edward R. Pressman, who worked on dozens of films including Wall Street, Badlands, American Psycho, Das Boot, and The Crow, passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 79.
His employer, Pressman Films, confirmed his death to Deadline.
Pressman is credited with discovering talented directors at an early stage of their careers. His body of work includes dozens of critically acclaimed and influential movies and TV shows that date back to the late 1960s and include now-classics like Conan the Barbarian, Talk Radio, Bad Lieutenant, and Brian De Palma’s 1972 Sisters.
Edward R. Pressman funeral, burial service, pictures, date, time, venue
Along with Sisters, he also produced Terrence Malick’s outstanding 1973 television film Badlands and De Palma’s Phantom of the Paradise. The 2005 Aaron Eckhart-starring film Thank You for Smoking by Pressman was Jason Reitman’s debut as a director.
Oliver Stone and I worked together on The Hand, a 1981 drama, before moving on to Talk Radio (1988) and the 1987 Oscar-winning Wall Street (which included an appearance by Martin Sheen, who had his breakthrough as the sociopathic killer of Badlands). The early Kathryn Bigelow film Blue Steel was produced by him and Stone (1990).
The Crow director Alex Proyas, Paradise Alley’s Sylvester Stallone, and Sam Raimi were a few of the other filmmakers with whom Pressman would establish early ties (Crimewave).
At the time of this publication, the family is yet to make an official pronouncement about his funeral plans.
Sam Pressman, who has been working for Edward R. Pressman Productions for the past ten years, says he will continue to produce movies for the company in memory of his father. Pressman is left by his wife of 39 years, Annie McEnroe Pressman, and son.
