‘Still Alice’ director Richard Glatzer dies at 63

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, March 11, 2015, 8:35 PM

Director Richard Glatzer passed away Tuesday at age 63.

Peter Bregg/Getty Images

Richard Glatzer, director of the Grammy Award winning movie “Still Alice,” passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease at age 63.

The news of his passing comes just three weeks after Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her role in the film at the Academy Awards.

The director was unable to attend the awards show due to respiratory problems that put him in a Los Angeles hospital two days.

Glatzer’s personal battle with the disease inspired him to adapt the book “Still Alice,” a novel by Lisa Genova, into a film alongside his co-director and husband Wash Westmoreland.

“Though ALS and Alzheimer’s are very different diseases, it was a very hard read for me,” Glatzer said in an interview with the New York Times. “It hit way too accurate. But when I finished reading, I knew we had to do it.”

Moore gave praise to her directors during her acceptance speech for her award on Oscars night.

“And finally, to our filmmakers, Wash Westmoreland and Richard Glatzer, who had hoped to be here tonight but they can’t because of Richard’s shape,” she started. “When Richard was diagnosed with ALS, Wash questioned him what he wanted to do. Did he want to travel? Did he want to see the world? And he said that he wanted to make movies, and that’s what he did.”

The director and his husband were set to be honored at the ALS Association Golden West Chapter Gala in late April.

Actress Kristen Stewart, director Wash Westmoreland, actress Julianne Moore and director Richard Glatzer (front) attend a special screening of ‘Still Alice’ Nov. 2014. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for AFI

Actress Kristen Stewart, director Wash Westmoreland, actress Julianne Moore and director Richard Glatzer (front) attend a special screening of ‘Still Alice’ Nov. 2014.

AP PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS HANDOUT PHOTO TO BE USED SOLELY TO ILLUSTRATE NEWS REPORTING OR COMMENTARY ON THE FACTS OR EVENTS DEPICTED IN THIS IMAGE. THIS IMAGE MAY ONLY BE USED FOR 14 DAYS FROM TIME OF TRANSMISSION; NO ARCHIVING; NO LICENSING. Linda Kallerus/Sony Pictures Classics/AP

Grammy Award winner Julianne Moore appears in a scene from the film, ‘Still Alice.’

Previous Next

Enlarge

Editors’ Picks

Bar Refaeli’s hottest moments

FBMD0f00075c0100002d250000f0a0000026c200008ee5000012c50100513a0200049d0200

You’ve seen her face – and her body – everywhere from the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to the arms of ex-boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio.

Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Piece By Piece’ debuts atop Billboard 200

Kelly Clarkson gives an exclusive performance at iHeartRadio Theater on March 2.

Pop singer Kelly Clarkson racked up the third No. 1 album of her career as “Piece By Piece” debuted in the top slot of the weekly U.S.

Brooklyn Decker tweeted with University of Oklahoma racist

Brooklyn Decker exchanged tweets with one of the University of Oklahoma’s singing racists in 2014.

Supermodel Brooklyn Decker is isolation herself from one of the Oklahoma singing racists after a Twitter exchange between the two surfaced.

Celebrity photos of the week

NO JUST JARED USAGE ***NO DAILY MAIL SALES***Celebrities at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Pictured: Jennifer Lopez Ref: SPL972844 110315 Picture by: Splash News Splash News and Pictures Los Angeles: 310-821-2666 New York: 212-619-2666 London: 870-934-2666 photodesk@splashnews.com

See what the stars were up to today …

Madonna confirms she briefly dated Tupac Shakur

Madonna (r.) confirmed she and late rapper Tupac Shakur briefly dated during a Wednesday interview with Howard Stern.

Madonna has confirmed that one of her celebrity exes was late rapper Tupac Shakur.

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos snag $ 27M townhouse

Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have a brand new home

She’s an Upscale girl.

Tuna Melts My Heart: The Underdog with the Overbite

"Tuna Melts my Heart: The Underdog with the Overbite."

The Internet’s most prized pup, Tuna, is taking his talents from Instagram to a brand new book! ‘Tuna Melts My Heart’ hit shelves on March 3, 2015 and features all-new snaps of the lovable, quirky pup flashing his lustrous whites …

Brian Williams meddled with NBC’s ‘New York Live’ show

Brian Williams, above, is on unpaid leave from “NBC Nightly News” after false comments about being shot down in a helicopter in Iraq.

Brian Williams meddling with local programming in New York on NBC, one well-positioned source tells Confidenti@l.

‘Powers’ is PlayStation’s adaptation of superhero series

Sharlto Copley as Christian Walker and Susan Heyward

Brian Michael Bendis had an epiphany on his first day on the set of PlayStation Network’s “Powers,” the adaptation of his superhero series.

Artists rocked by composition lawsuits

Framegrabs from the video for Robin Thicke's " Blurred Lines " via YouTube.

Listen closely or you might need to pay up! In light of the lawsuit between Marvin Gaye’s family and “Blurred Lines” writers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, take a look at other well-known lawsuits that was not composition to these musicians ears!

Video Game Review: DmC: Devil May Weep Definitive Edition

Damn, that’s good! Scene from DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition video game

Dante is back, in all his boy band glory. And somehow, Capcom’s made him even better on next-gen.

Stars on set

MAG1

The cameras are always rolling in Hollywood! When the stars aren’t on the red carpet, you’ll more than likely find them on set filming their next splendid blockbuster. Check out these well-known actors and actresses in action …

Dr. Phil airs ‘intervention’ with Nick Gordon

Nick Gordon was distraught talking about his girlfriend Bobbi Kristina Brown with Dr. Phil McGraw.

Everything suspected about the “unraveling” of Nick Gordon was confirmed or amplified Wednesday afternoon with Dr. Phil.

Slipknot guitarist stabbed in knife fight with brother: cop

Mick Thomson of Slipknot was stabbed in a knife fight with his brother outside of his Iowa home, according to local police.

Slipknot guitarist Mick Thomson was stabbed in the back of his head during an apparent knife fight with his own brother, cops said.

Stars trapped without makeup

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 11: Renee Zellweger attends the Miu Miu show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2015/2016 on March 11, 2015 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Miu Miu)

Celebrities may look phenomenal on the red carpet, but they also have hordes of makeup artists at the ready for even the least possible of touchups. Catch them without the thick layers of powder, smoky eyeshadow and mascara, and it’s a whole different report.

Most Standard

Day after day News – Gossip

Tagged with: Alice dies Director Glatzer Richard still

‘Still Alice’ director Richard Glatzer dies at 63

Actress Kristen Stewart, director Wash Westmoreland, actress Julianne Moore and director Richard Glatzer (front) attend a special screening of ‘Still Alice’ Nov. 2014.