Bob Rafelson, an influential figure in the New Hollywood era of the 1970s who was nominated for two Oscars for “Five Easy Pieces,” has died. He was 89 years old.
Rafelson died at his home in Aspen Saturday night surrounded by his family, said his wife, Gabrielle Taurek Rafelson.
Rafelson co-created the fictional pop group and television series “The Monkees” with the late Bert Schneider, which won him an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1967.
But he was perhaps best known for his work during the New Hollywood era, which saw a classic studio system give way to a batch of rebellious young voices and fresh filmmaking styles, and helped usher in talents like Martin Scorsese, Brian De Palma and Francis Ford. Coppola and Steven Spielberg.
Rafelson directed and co-wrote “Five Easy Pieces,” about an upper-class pianist longing for a more blue-collar life, and “The King of Marvin Gardens,” about a depressed afternoon radio talk show host. Both films starred Jack Nicholson and explored themes of the American dream gone wrong. “Five Easy Pieces” earned Rafelson two Oscar nominations in 1971, for best picture and screenplay.
It also produced seminal New Hollywood classics such as Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” and Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider.”
Rafelson was nominated for two Oscars for “Five Easy Pieces.” COLUMBIA PICTURES / Album
Coppola once called him “one of the most important film artists of his time” and his fans include Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson.
Rafelson was born in New York City and was a distant relative of “The Jazz Singer” screenwriter Samson Raphaelson, who said he took an interest in her work. At Dartmouth he also befriended legendary screenwriter Buck Henry.
He developed an interest in Japanese cinema and the films of Yasujiro Ozu, especially “Tokyo Story,” while serving in the US Army in Japan.
Rafelson was responsible for co-creating the fictional pop music group and television series “The Monkees.” HBO / Album
After college, Rafelson married his high school sweetheart, who would work as a production designer on his films and others. He got his start in the television entertainment business, writing for shows like “The Witness” and “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
But “The Monkees” was his first big hit. The idea for The Monkees, he said, predated The Beatles and the musical comedy “A Hard Day’s Night,” but it hit the spot when it premiered on NBC in 1966. It ran for two years and allowed Rafelson took a stab at himself.
The Monkees also appeared on his directorial debut, “Head,” which would be the first of many collaborations with Nicholson.
“He may have thought I started his career,” Nicholson told Esquire in 2019, “but I think he started my career.”
Rafelson was most proud of the 1990 film he directed, “Mountains of the Moon,” a biographical film that told the story of two explorers, Sir Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke, as they searched for the source of the Nile, said his wife.
Rafelson’s own adventures in places like Morocco, India, Southeast Asia, Mexico and Guatemala influenced his work, he said.
“He liked nothing more than to disappear into strange pockets of the world,” said Taurek Rafelson.
Rafelson left Hollywood two decades ago to focus on raising two children with Taurek Rafelson, Ethan and Harper, in Aspen. He and his first wife, Toby Rafelson, also had two children, Peter and Julie, who died in 1973 when she was 10.