James Foley, director of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ sequels, dies at 71

American veteran director James Foley’s death came after a yearlong battle with brain cancer. PHOTO: AFP

LOS ANGELES – American veteran director James Foley, whose films included “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1992) and the “Fifty Shades of Grey” sequels (2017 and 2018), and who also worked on the hit television series “House of Cards” (2013 to 2018), died this week at his home in Los Angeles. He was 71.

His death came after a yearlong battle with brain cancer, according to Mr. Taylor Lomax of ID, the firm that represents Foley.

Foley made his directorial debut with the film “Reckless” (1984), a drama about a high school romance between a rebellious, motorcycle-driving football player and a cheerleader. In the decades that followed, he built a career directing movies, television shows and music videos, working with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Among his most celebrated works is the film adaptation of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” the play by American playwright David Mamet that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1984. The movie, about real estate salesmen trying to make ends meet in a tough economy, starred Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris and Alan Arkin.

Foley also directed “Fifty Shades Darker” (2017) and “Fifty Shades Freed” (2018), the final two installments of the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise (2015 to 2018). Those films were adapted from the second and third books of the Fifty Shades trilogy by British author E. L. James.

Foley told the The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that he was pleased that his career had not been pigeonholed.

“I think in terms of what fascinates me and what intrigues me and what I feel is engaging for the year that you spend making the movie, what’s personally engaging, not adhering to any kind of conventions,” he said.

Foley was born on Dec 28, 1953, in New York City and grew up on Staten Island. He studied psychology and graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1974.

James Foley’s directorial credits include “Fifty Shades Freed,” which starred Dakota Johnson (right) and Jamie Dornan. PHOTO: UIP

He planned to attend medical school, but he decided instead to pursue directing after taking a six-week film production course at New York University. He went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts in 1979.

Foley recalled screening the short film he made during the six-week course in New York while speaking to film and media studies students at Johns Hopkins University in 2013.

“That was the first time that something I had done got a reaction out of a lot of people,” Foley said. “From that moment on, I decided I wanted to do that again.”

Foley directed “At Close Range (1986),” the crime drama starring Sean Penn and Christopher Walken. Several years later, he directed and co-wrote the film adaptation of “After Dark, My Sweet” (1990), the 1955 crime novel by late American novelist Jim Thompson.

Foley’s directorial credits also include “Fear” (1996), starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon; “The Chamber” (1996), with Chris O’Donnell and Gene Hackman; and “Perfect Stranger” (2007), with Halle Berry and Bruce Willis.

Foley also directed several music videos for American pop diva Madonna, including “Live to Tell” (1986), “True Blue” (1986) and “Papa Don’t Preach” (1986).

Foley made his foray into television directing an episode of “Twin Peaks” in 1991. He later directed 12 episodes across Seasons 1, 2 and 3 of “House of Cards,” the hit Netflix series about the underbelly of American government that was adapted from a BBC series of the same name. He also directed episodes of “Wayward Pines” (2015 to 2016) and “Billions” (2016 to 2023).

Foley is survived by a brother, Kevin Foley; two sisters, Eileen and Jo Ann Foley; and a nephew, Quinn Foley. He was predeceased by his brother, Gerard Foley.

“I’ve had a very fluid career of ups and downs and lefts and rights, and I always just responded to what I was interested in at the moment,” James Foley said in the 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve always just followed my nose, for better or for worse, sometimes for worse.” NYTIMES. /ra