‘Towering Inferno’ director John Guillermin dies at 89

Fred Astaire, William Holden, Faye Dunaway and Jennifer Jones also rounded out the top-billed cast.

“King Kong” director John Guillermin has died at 89.

Before guiding Irwin Allen’s The Towering Inferno (1974), an Academy Award nominee for best picture, Guillermin honed his disaster-film chops by helming Skyjacked (1972), starring Charlton Heston.

Known for his big budget adventures, Guillermin also had a reputation of being a hard man to work with. The film, produced by Dino De Laurentiis for $25 million, was mocked for its embarrassingly campy dialogue, as when Lange calls her hairy co-star a “goddamned chauvinist pig ape!”

Then came 1978’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic novel Death on the Nile, which included another star-studded cast: Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot, David Niven, George Kennedy, and Angela Lansbury. His career as a Hollywood director stretched from 1958 film noir The Whole Truth, which starred Max Poulton as a movie producer framed for the murder of his promiscuous leading lady, to the 1986 fantasy sequel King Kong Lives, a critical and box-office turkey that led to the film-maker moving into television films.

He was born Yvon Jean Guillermin in London in 1925 to French parents and later attended the University of Cambridge.

And his movies left an impression on many film buffs. “John is here at home till his burial this coming Friday”. He also collaborated with Peter Sellers on Never Let Go (1960) and Waltz of the Toreadors (1962).

Guillermin is regarded by a few as one of best directors of his generation, with such films as The Towering Inferno, King Kong (1976) and Death on the Nile part of his distinguished career.

His first marriage, to actress Maureen Connell, ended in divorce.

He is survived by widow Mary and a daughter.