One name that’s been synonymous with the Alien franchise from the very beginning is David Giler, a key figure in the behind the scenes creation of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror classic and one of the film’s producers. He went on to produce every single installment in the Alien film franchise. Sadly, we’ve learned this week that Giler has passed away at the age of 77.

In addition to producing all things Alien, David Giler helped come up with the story for James Cameron’s Aliens and he subsequently co-wrote the script for Alien 3. He similarly worked on the script for the original Alien alongside Brandywine Productions partner Walter Hill, and the duo are credited for making the crucial addition of the android character Ash.

Hill and Giler brought that screenplay, originally written by the late Dan O’Bannon (who ended up getting full credit for the script), to 20th Century Fox, and the rest is history.

Outside the horror genre, Giler wrote the screenplays for The Parallax View (1974), Fun With Dick and Jane (1977), The Money Pit (1986), and Undisputed (2002).

Giler also executive produced HBO’s horror anthology series “Tales from the Crypt.”

“If you knew David, you knew he was special,” longtime writing/producing partner Walter Hill said in a statement. “The magic of his personality is hard to describe: funny, angry, extremely knowledgeable, extremely well read; it was my privilege to write and produce with him, and more importantly, to have his close and deep friendship for nearly 50 years.”