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Gloria Katz (October 25, 1942 – November 25, 2018) was a writer and producer who co-wrote the screenplay for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with her husband, Willard Huyck, based on a story by George Lucas. That process involved the two of them writing "three real drafts, and then little rewrites" over an eight-month period with continuous input from director Steven Spielberg, consciously trying "not to repeat the same pattern" followed by Raiders of the Lost Ark.[1]

In response to accusations that the finished film was excessively violent, Katz felt that was inherent to its fantastical nature:

...because I thought of Temple of Doom in a not very realistic context, I see the violence as somewhat different, not as street violence. It's a part of the fairy tale. Fairy tales are not antiseptic.[1]

Beyond the Indiana Jones franchise, Katz's collaborative screenplay work for Lucasfilm included the feature films American Graffiti (directed by George Lucas, with Harrison Ford), Howard the Duck (directed by Willard Huyck, with Denny Delk), and Radioland Murders (with Barry Bell, Mary Boucher, Lou Criscuolo, Hadley Eure, Keith Flippen, Jennifer Hammond-Moranz, Mark Jeffrey Miller, Brad Moranz, Richard K. Olsen, Amy Parrish, and Jeffrey Pillars), along with an uncredited dialogue rewrite of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (also directed by George Lucas, with Harrison Ford, Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, and William Hootkins).

Katz's other screenwriting credits include Messiah of Evil, French Postcards, and Best Defense (with Kate Capshaw, whose character hums The Raiders March at one point), all co-written with and directed by Willard Huyck; as well as Lucky Lady and the TV movie Mothers, Daughters, and Lovers.

On November 25, 2018, Katz died from ovarian cancer in Los Angeles, California. She was 76.

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lofficier, Randy & Jean-Marc. "Willard Huyck & Gloria Katz: Screenwriters at the Temple of Doom." Starlog #87 (October 1984), pp. 38-40, 60.

External links[]

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