Dianne Crittenden obit

Dianne Crittenden, Casting Director for Terrence Malick and Peter Weir, Dies at 82

She found actors for 'Days of Heaven,’ ‘Witness,’ ‘Hearts of the West,’ ‘Star Wars,’ ‘The In-Laws,’ ‘On Golden Pond,’ ‘Spider-Man 2’ and many other films. 

She was not on the list.

Dianne Crittenden, the casting director whose impressive résumé included the first Star Wars film, The In-Laws and the Terrence Malick features Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, has died. She was 82.

Crittenden died Wednesday at her home in Pacific Palisades after a battle with several cancers, fellow casting director Ilene Starger told The Hollywood Reporter.

“Dianne was my mentor, we’ve known each other for 44 years,” Starger said. “She was also my dear friend, more like an older sister, really. So generous, kind, brilliant, funny. A people magnet. Her knowledge of and insight into actors was extraordinary.”

A former head of casting at Warner Bros., Crittenden collaborated with Martin Ritt on Murphy’s Romance (1985) and Stanley & Iris (1990); with Roger Donaldson on Thirteen Days (2000) and The World’s Fastest Indian (2005); and with Peter Weir on Witness (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Green Card (1990).

Crittenden was born in Queens on Aug. 6, 1941. Her father, Herbert, was a roofing contractor and her mother, Sylvia, a homemaker. She graduated from Baldwin High School and Hofstra University and during summers often worked as a lifeguard.

Crittenden taught elementary school before teaming with photographer and director Howard Zieff on advertising campaigns for such products as Alka-Seltzer, Volkswagen, Levy’s bread and Polaroid. And on the Zieff-directed films Hearts of the West (1975) and The Main Event (1979), she was his casting director.

She also worked in television on The New Dick Van Dyke Show and the 1976 miniseries Sybil as well as served as head of casting at Marble Arch Productions.

Her body of work included Stanley Donen’s Lucky Lady (1975), Carl Reiner’s Oh! God (1977), Martin Brest’s Going in Style (1979), Jerry Schatzberg’s Honeysuckle Rose (1980), Mark Rydell’s On Golden Pond (1981), George A. Romero’s Monkey Shines (1988), Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman (1990) and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 (2004).

Survivors include her siblings, Donald Derfner and Dori Carter; sister-in-law Brenda Derfner; brother-in-law Chris Carter; and stepdaughter Jennifer Crittenden. Her husband, George Drabek, died last year.