'Glengarry,' 'Fear' director James Foley dies
by Fred Topel · UPIMay 8 (UPI) -- James Foley died earlier this week at 71. The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline confirmed with Foley's representatives Thursday and they stated the cause was brain cancer.
Notable deaths of 2025
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Jill Sobule attends the GLAAD Media Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on March 30, 2023. Sobule, the singer-songwriter behind "I Kissed a Girl," "Living Color" and "Supermodel," died at the age of 66 on May 2 from a house fire. Photo by Greg Grudt/UPI | License Photo
Foley directed Madonna videos for "Papa Don't Preach," "Live to Tell" and more. He directed his first film in 1984, Reckless, followed by 1986's At Close Range starring Christopher Walken, Sean Penn and Mary Stuart Masterson.
The '80s also saw Foley direct the Madonna vehicle Who's That Girl. In 1992 he directed Glengarry Glen Ross, the adaptation of David Mamet's play starring Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Alan Arkin and more as competing real estate salesmen.
1996's Fear was one of Mark Wahlberg's early film roles, as the stalker boyfriend of Reese Witherspoon. His most recent films were Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, the sequels to Fifty Shades of Grey.
On television, Foley episodes of Twin Peaks, Hannibal, House of Cards and Billions.