Robert M. Young, whose career spanned 70 years and included independent and studio documentaries, narrative features, and episodes of television series Battlestar: GalacticaHe died on Tuesday in Los Angeles at the age of 99. His son confirmed his death in a Facebook post.
Two of his films were recently added to the Library of Congress Film Registry. They includeImpresta! (1977), a film about the life of an illegal Mexican immigrant, won the Camera d’Or for Best First Film at Cannes, and Gregorio Cortez song(1982), one of Young’s eight films with actor Edward James Olmos. Based on the true story that inspired The Passage, it tells the story of a man on the run after a standoff with police.
Both films are also part of the Criterion Collection.
These films represented a recurring theme in Young’s career, one that demonstrated his interest in bringing attention to broader social issues.
“We lose important people all the time, but there are also those who embodied a truly original spirit. Bob Young was one of those,” John Cooper, former director of the Sundance Film Festival, said in a statement to IndieWire.
“I remember him fondly as an independent cowboy… a rebel… and a believer in the power of cinema. His love for cinema was contagious and profound. He was always there to contribute knowledge and talent to anyone lucky enough to be in his path. I have been in his path many times and felt lucky.” “Knowing him. I also felt proud to celebrate him whenever he found his way to Sundance. I thought he would live forever…but now we must say goodbye. I do so with gratitude for all that he shared with the world.”
Robert Milton Young was born in New York. After attending MIT, he served in the Navy in the South Pacific as part of a photographic unit in World War II, then graduated from Harvard University.
He began his career in science filmmaking, which led to early credits in directing and cinematography for documentaries.
In 1960, he worked on a film for NBC News Sit in, which contained footage of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the early days of the civil rights movement, won a Peabody Award. That would lead to his involvement with Nothing but a man(1964), directed by Michael Romer, where he was cinematographer, co-writer, and co-producer.
It was his first solo film as a director Short eyes (1977), an independent adaptation of the play by Miguel Piñero, starring Bruce Davison as an accused child rapist in a New York prison. The impresta! Followed by, then two titles from the studio, Rich kids And one trick pony, The last with Paul Simon.
His career included the parties With Farrah Fawcett, Dominic and Eugene With Tom Hulse and Ray Liotta, Triumph of the spirit With Willem Dafoe, and American Meamong Mexican-American gangs in prison.
Young is survived by his wife Lily, sons Andrew, Nick, and Zach, daughters Melissa and Sarah, and nine grandchildren. Plans for the memorial are pending.