Wellesnet

Writer-director Paul Mazursky, best known for such films as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice and An Unmarried Woman, died on June 29. He was 84.

The filmmaker, who had a role in Orson Welles’ unfinished The Other Side of the Wind, died of pulmonary cardiac arrest at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Speaking with Wellesnet in 2008, Mazursky recalled filming The Other Side of the Wind with Henry Jaglom in 1971:

“I got a call from the producer, Bert Schneider (who made Easy Rider and The Last Picture Show) and he said to me, “Orson Welles wants you to be in his new movie.” I said, “come on, Bert, don’t put me on. Where does Orson Welles know me from?” Bert said, “No, he really wants you, I don’t know why, but he does. I said, “When are you shooting? “Tonight.” I said, “If this is a put-on Bert, I promise you, I’ll come and get you! So Bert gave me the address and I went to Orson’s house in Benedict Canyon at 8:00 pm and knocked on the door, figuring it was going to be a put-on of some kind. Well, the door opens and there is the biggest guy I’ve ever seen standing there in a black smock, and he says, “Paul, I loved Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice. It was so brilliant, thank you so much.” So I go in and we started shooting, and as we shot, Orson kept feeding me brandy after brandy, all night long, so I had a really great time. Finally, after we had shot for about four hours, sometime after midnight, Orson said, “It’s a wrap for tonight, thank you Paul, thank you Henry. You can go home now.”

Mazursky was nominated for several Academy Awards, including screenplay writing for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Harry and Tonto, and An Unmarried Woman.