JC Spink obit

J.C. Spink, Producer and Master of the Script Sale, Dies at 45

He was not on the list.

He founded Benderspink with college buddy Chris Bender, and they were behind such films as 'The Hangover,' 'We're the Millers' and 'A History of Violence.'

J.C. Spink, the gregarious producer and Hollywood hustler behind many of the top big-screen comedies in the 2000s, has died. He was 45.

Spink died Tuesday night at his home in West Hollywood, his brother, Brian Spink, told The Hollywood Reporter. No cause of death was immediately known, and an autopsy will be performed, he said.

Spink, who hailed from Philadelphia, was one half of Benderspink, the management-production banner that he founded with Chris Bender.

Spink and Bender both graduated from Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and were assistants at management-production outfit Zide-Perry Productions before striking out on their own in 1998, working out of a house they shared in West Hollywood.

"Chris and I were roommates," Spink once said. "We had a third bedroom, and the company just started out of there. I think it probably cost $35,000 a year or $40,000 a year to run it. We were just putting it on credit cards."

Within its first year, Benderspink had sold more than 20 scripts and helped set up American Pie (1999), which grossed $235 million worldwide. It then signed a first-look production deal with New Line Cinema.

Benderspink specialized in spec scripts, and the partners were instrumental in big sales for scripts that ended up becoming movies — ranging from Cats & Dogs (2001) and The Ring (2002) to Monster-in-Law (2005) and We’re the Millers (2013).

Over almost two decades, Spink racked up credits on such movies as the Hangover trilogy, The Butterfly Effect (2004), the Ride Along films and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013). He was nominated for a Golden Globe for producing A History of Violence (2005).

Spink ran the company with Bender for 18 years before they parted ways last May.

Spink gained a reputation as a fast-talking hustler and inside operator who also liked to live large. In a 2006 story for Esquire, the burly Spink was described as "a quick-witted, hard-boozing loose cannon reminiscent of Chris Farley who last year got into a fist fight at an industry beer-pong tournament."

His reputation led to cameos in front of the camera as well, which included playing a bus driver on two episodes of the ABC comedy The Goldbergs.

Spink is also survived by another brother, Dan; his parents Marsh and Helyn; his sisters-in-law Jessica and Holly; his niece Campbell; and his nephew Bennett.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes

2001 Cats & Dogs executive producer

2002 Cheats producer

2003 Blind Horizon co-executive producer

2004 The Butterfly Effect producer

2005 The Ring Two co-executive producer

Monster-in-Law producer

A History of Violence producer

Red Eye executive producer

Just Friends producer

2006-09 Kyle XY executive producer TV Series

2009 The Hangover executive producer

2010 Leap Year executive producer

2011 I Am Number Four executive producer

Arthur executive producer

The Hangover II executive producer

2013 The Incredible Burt Wonderstone executive producer

The Hangover III executive producer

We're the Millers executive producer

2014 Zombeavers producer

2014-15 The Goldbergs Joe the Bus Driver TV Series, 2 episodes

2016 Criminal producer

2020 Mulan producer Posthumous release