Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon, best known for the 1979 science-fiction hit Alien, died on Thursday at age 63 after a brief illness. After cutting his teeth as co-writer of director John Carpenter’s 1974 sci-fi comedy Dark Star, the St. Louis-born O’Bannon made his breakthrough with his script “The Star Beast,” co-written with Ronald Shusett, which became the basis for Ridley Scott’s outer-space thriller Alien. O’Bannon went on to work on such sci-fi movies as Lifeforce, Invaders From Mars, and Total Recall and made his directorial debut with 1985′s The Return of The Living Dead. In 2004, he returned to the Alien franchise as co-writer of AVP: Alien vs. Predator.
Dec 18
2009
07:14 PM ET
'Alien' screenwriter Dan O'Bannon dies
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Very sad. Alien and Return of the Living Dead are classics!
I was a huge fan of ROTLD I loved Dan RIP.
Rest easy, Pinback.
He was cranky. He was snarky. He was fiery and unapologetic. Fans of his wouldn’t have it any other way. Whenever you hear him talk, he doesn’t sugarcoat what he thinks, and it made him a joy to listen to. The man, all his life a candid sparkplug, will be greatly missed.