This has been a pretty rough week for losing childhood heroes.  First Leslie Nielsen passes away, who was such a great comedic (and dramatic) talent in Hollywood.  And now we mourn the loss of director Irvin Kershner, a highly respected man who brought us what many consider to be the best STAR WARS film of all time, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.  Mr. Kershner has been dealing with lung cancer for the past three years, a condition which prevented him from making personal appearances, which is something he very much enjoyed doing.  I actually met Mr. Kershner several years ago at San Diego Comic-Con, and found him to be an extremely kind man, and extremely accommodating with fans.  As much as I loved EMPIRE, being a hardcore 007 fan I found myself talking to him about NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983), which was Sean Connery’s last attempt at playing James Bond.  Through the years I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know and in many cases becoming friends with Today StarWars.com posted an official statement from George Lucas, regarding the death of Kershner.  It reads as follows:

“The world has lost a great director and one of the most genuine people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing,” says Lucas. “Irvin Kershner was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. When I think of Kersh, I think of his warmth, his thoughtfulness and his talent. I knew him from USC — I attended his lectures and he was actually on the festival panel that gave the prize to my THX short. I considered him a mentor.

“Following Star Wars, I knew one thing for sure: I didn’t want to direct the second movie myself. I needed someone I could trust, someone I really admired and whose work had maturity and humor. That was Kersh all over. I didn’t want Empire to turn into just another sequel, another episode in a series of space adventures. I was trying to build something, and I knew Kersh was the guy to help me do it. He brought so much to the table. I am truly grateful to him.

“He was a friend as well as a colleague. He will be missed.”

In addition to the words from Lucas, the wonderful Bonnie Burton has compiled a collection of celebrity quotes and Twitter posts in reaction to Irvin Kershner’s passing. Here’s a few examples:

“He brought motion and maturity to the most grown up chapter of the Star Wars saga. His decisions are inextricably woven into its success.” – Simon Pegg, actor/author

“Farewell to Irvin Kershner – a true cinema legend. With The Empire Strikes Back, Kersh took an absolute phenomenon and somehow made it even better, creating perhaps, the greatest film of all time. An incredible feat indeed… and one that we still feel the impact of today! His contributions to the Star Wars Saga will never be forgotten. May he be one with the Force!” – Kyle Newman, director of Fanboys

You can read many more of the quotes Bonnie compiled HERE.

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We’ll also direct you to our friends at TheForce.net, who have excerpts from what ended up being Kershner’s last interview, which was done with Vanity Fair.  Here’s a snippet of what they have among their quotes:

Kershner on Empire’s critics:
“I think the critics felt that they were going to see an extension of Star Wars. In other words, they wanted another Star Wars. I decided that the potential was much greater than a rerun of Star Wars. When I finally accepted the assignment, I knew that it was going to be a dark film, with more depth to the characters than in the first film. It took a few years for the critics to catch up with the film and to see it as a fairy tale rather than a comic book.”

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Finally, here’s a rather poignant clip from the Roger Nygard documentary called The Nature of Existence.

Irvin Kershner

1923 – 2010

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