Willard Miller Huyck, Jr. (born September 8, 1945) is an American screenwriter, director and producer, best known for his association with

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as c ...

Career

Huyck and Lucas met as students at the film school of the University of Southern California, and became members of

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...

American Zoetrope American Zoetrope (also known as Omni Zoetrope from 1977 to 1980 and Zoetrope Studios from 1980 until 1990) is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and Georg ...

group of filmmakers. Along with his wife

Gloria Katz Gloria Katz (October 25, 1942 – November 25, 2018) was an American screenwriter and film producer, best known for her association with George Lucas. Along with her husband Willard Huyck, Katz created the screenplays of films including ''Amer ...

, Huyck wrote screenplays for films including ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

'', ''

Lucky Lady ''Lucky Lady'' is a 1975 American comedy-drama film directed by Stanley Donen and starring Liza Minnelli, Gene Hackman, Burt Reynolds and Robby Benson. Its story takes place in 1930 during Prohibition in the United States. The film is notable fo ...

'', ''

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action- adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'', ...

'', and ''

Radioland Murders ''Radioland Murders'' is a 1994 American comedy thriller film directed by Mel Smith and executive produced by George Lucas. ''Radioland Murders'' is set in the 1939 atmosphere of old-time radio and pays homage to the screwball comedy films of the ...

'', and performed uncredited work on the original ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

''. He also directed four films he co-wrote with

: ''

Messiah of Evil ''Messiah of Evil'' (later also shown under the title ''Dead People'') is a 1973 American supernatural horror film, supernatural horror film co-written, co-produced, and co-directed by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, and starring Marianna Hill, ...

'', '' French Postcards'', ''

Best Defense ''Best Defense'' is a 1984 American comedy film starring Dudley Moore and Eddie Murphy. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams. It was released by Paramount Pictures. Plot The movie takes place as two parallel plots separate ...

'', and ''

Howard the Duck Howard the Duck is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck first appeared in ''Adventure into F ...

''. The latter film received universally negative reviews but in subsequent years has become a cult classic. Katz and Huyck also wrote and produced the NBC television films "A Father's Homecoming" and "American River." Willard Huyck is a current member of the Writers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America. In addition to their work in the film industry, Katz and Huyck are well known as art collectors, having collected Indian miniature paintings beginning in the 1970s. This collection was sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York City in 2001. In subsequent years, they amassed a collection of Japanese photography that spanned from the late 1850s to the present. This collection was acquired in 2018 by the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. The couple also wrote a photographic catalogue of the collection entitled "Views of India," designed and edited by Manfred Heiting and published by Steidl. Huyck is a member of the Getty Museum Photography Council.

Personal life

Huyck married Katz in 1969."Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck's Best Defense Against Critics Is Their Screenwriting Track Record" By Donald G. McNeil Jr. August 20, 1984 ''People Magazine''
accessed 22 April 2015 They remained married until her death in 2018. They have one daughter, Rebecca, born in 1983.

Filmography

Film

Other credits

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huyck, Willard 1945 births American male screenwriters American film producers Film directors from Minnesota Living people USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni