Robert Watts (23 May 1938 – 30 September 2024) was a British film producer who was best known for his involvement with the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series.
Career Watts began working in the film industry in 1960, after two years' National Service.Dennis Pellegrom, Star Wars Interviews: Robert Watts, Co-producer Star Wars. Retrieved 6 September 2012. His first film work was as a runner on the Boulting brothers production A French Mistress. Watts earned his union membership during two years as a runner, and later production manager, at a company based at England's Shepperton Studios which made TV commercials and documentaries. He then returned to feature films as a second assistant director on the film Man in the Middle.
During the 1960s, Watts worked extensively as a production manager and location manager, including on Darling (1965) starring Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde, the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice and Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).Stuart Cummins, Interview: Robert Watts, Producer of Star Wars & Indiana Jones, whatculture.com, 25 May 2011. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
Watts was employed by producer Gary Kurtz as production supervisor on Star Wars. He had met Kurtz several years earlier in Los Angeles.James Hoare, "Star Wars Interview: Robert Watts", SciFiNow, 25 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2012. Watts then enjoyed a long collaboration with George Lucas and Lucasfilm, working as associate producer on The Empire Strikes Back and co-producer on Return of the Jedi; and as associate producer on Raiders of the Lost Ark and producer on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He also worked on other Steven Spielberg-presented productions, including as producer on Who Framed Roger Rabbit and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, and with Spielberg's long-term producer Frank Marshall on Marshall's second feature as director, Alive.
Personal life and death Watts was born in London on 23 May 1938.Adam Pirani, Robert Watts: Secrets of "The Temple of Doom", Starlog #94, April 1985, pp 23–26,62. His half brother was Jeremy Bulloch, who played Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy.
Watts died at his home in East Sussex, on 30 September 2024, at the age of 86, from natural causes.
Filmography
Year Film Producer Productionmanager Roles 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey 1970 El Condor 1973 Papillon 1977 Star Wars 1980 The Empire Strikes Back 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark 1983 Return of the Jedi Lt. Watts (AT-ST Driver) (uncredited) 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1991 An American Tail: Fievel Goes West Additional Voices 1993 Alive 1994 On Deadly Ground
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