Original Evil Dead crew member Josh Becker has passed away at the age of 67.
A Detroit native, Becker began making Super 8 movies alongside Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell in junior high.
Becker worked on the lighting and sound, among other duties, on The Evil Dead. He kept a detailed journal during the production, which can be read in full on Evil Dead Archives.
Becker returned to serve as a “fake shemp” in Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, in addition to making an uncredited cameo in Raimi’s Darkman.
A writer and director himself, Becker reunited with Evil Dead alumni on projects like “Xena: Warrior Princess,“ Running Time, Alien Apocalypse, Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except, Lunatics: A Love Story, Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur, and “Jack of All Trades.”
He also published several books, including The Complete Guide to Low-Budget Feature Filmmaking, which features an introduction from frequent collaborator Bruce Campbell.
“As a writer, Josh enjoys making movies with stories, themes, irony, and conflict. As a filmmaker, he favors a well-planned, fiscally responsible approach to telling stories,” Campbell wrote in his intro. “As a person, he’s encyclopedic, bright, and brutally honest. What’s not to love?”
