Oscar-nominated writer and filmmaker Charles Shyer has died at 83, Breitbart reported. Shyer was best known for combining comedy and heart in films such as Father of the Bride and Baby Boom.
His daughter and fellow filmmaker Hallie Meyers-Shyer confirmed that Shyer passed away Friday in Los Angeles but did not disclose the cause of death. Shyer began his career collaborating with Garry Marshall on shows like The Odd Couple and later received writing credits on films like House Calls, Smokey and the Bandit, and Goin' South.
He would often team with Nancy Myers, whom he would go on to marry and make several successful films with. After his passing, Meyers posted a black and white photo of the two of them on Instagram on Sunday.
View this post on Instagram
Shyer's only Oscar nomination came from co-writing Private Benjamin with Meyers and Harvey Miller. As for anyone in Hollywood, it was his greatest professional achievement.
The 1980 hit comedy was about a young widow convinced to join the Army after finding herself directionless and the hilarity that ensued from the fish out of water situation. However, the film almost didn't happen.
Every major studio rejected the script even though actress Goldie Hawn had already been signed as producer and lead actress for the film. In an interview with Indiewire in 2022, Shyer recounted how the project finally got off the ground.
"We went to a meeting at Paramount after they read the script, and Mike Eisner was the president of the studio, and we sat in his office with Mike and (producer) Don Simpson. And Mike said to Goldie, 'This is a mistake for you to make this movie,'" Shyer said at the time.
"God bless Don Simpson who spoke up and said, ‘Mike, you’re 100% wrong on this one,'" Shyer added. The film's success would open the door for Shyer's next big success, Irreconcilable Differences, starring Shelley Long and Ryan O’Neal.
Winning Combination
Meyers and Shyer were a winning combination, both on-screen and off. "Nancy and I just laughed at the same things," Shyer said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
"We love the same movies. We kind of educate each other on the movies that each of us loved. And Nancy really made me laugh. I think she wrote the best one-liners of anybody I know, except Neil Simon," Shyer added.
"And, and we were just always in sync — as filmmakers, we had this thing." They would go on to make Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton as a big-city working woman who unwittingly becomes an adoptive mother and learns to love domestic life.
The pair also collaborated in the wildly popular 1990s remake of the 1950 flick Father of the Bride starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Keaton. The last time Shyer and Meyers made a film together was 1999 reboot of The Parent Trap, which was released shortly before their divorce. Shyer never really recaptured the same success as he had with Meyers.
Shyer was a unique talent in Hollywood who made some of the most beloved films of the last few decades. His legacy lives on in those films and the new generations who will discover these timeless classics.
