Henry Jaglom, the maverick filmmaker best known for his string of low-budget, independent dramas as well as his friendship with Orson Welles, has passed away at the age of eighty-seven. He died at home in Santa Monica, surrounded by his family.
For Los Angeles audiences, Jaglom’s career was integrally bound with Laemmle Theatres. He premiered most of his films at Laemmle venues, including the Royal, the Monica Film Center, and the bygone Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, often staying long after the credits had rolled. His post-screening Q&As were legendary, less a rote publicity stop than a continuation of the film itself, a space where audiences could challenge him, argue with him, and in some cases even change his mind. Many of his titles enjoyed unusually long runs at Laemmle houses, buoyed by that engaged and loyal audience.
Born in London in 1938 to German-Jewish parents who had fled the Nazis, Jaglom grew up in New York City, where he studied acting at the fabled Actors Studio. His early career was spent on screen, with parts in Psych-Out, Drive, He Said, and The Flying Nun, but he soon gravitated to life behind the camera. After assisting with the editing of Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider, Jaglom made his directorial debut with A Safe Place (1971), starring Tuesday Weld and Jack Nicholson, and featuring his friend and mentor Orson Welles.
Over the next half-century, Jaglom pursued a personal and resolutely independent path. His films often blurred the line between autobiography and fiction, circling themes of love, loss, and identity. Alongside explorations of family and artistic life in works like Tracks, Last Summer in the Hamptons, and Festival in Cannes, Jaglom carved out a distinctive niche by crafting wry, insightful roles for women. Films such as Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983), New Year’s Day (1989), Eating (1990), and Baby Fever (1994) foregrounded female perspectives with candor, humor, and a willingness to engage topics such as body image, sexuality, and aging—ones that mainstream Hollywood too often avoided. In his later career, Jaglom reflected upon his Jewish heritage, adapting his plays Just 45 Minutes from Broadway (2012) and Train to Zakopané (2017) for the screen.
Jaglom’s enduring friendship with Orson Welles also shaped his place in film history. He gave Welles some of his final roles—including his last on-screen appearance in Someone to Love (1987)—and, in turn, Welles gave Jaglom counsel, camaraderie, and hours of engaging conversation. Decades later, their lunch-table talks resurfaced in the acclaimed book My Lunches with Orson, ensuring Jaglom’s role as both collaborator and chronicler of a cinematic giant.
Though mainstream success largely eluded him, Jaglom’s commitment to artistic freedom, improvisation, and dialogue left an indelible mark on the culture of independent cinema. He is survived by his children, Sabrina and Simon, and by a body of work that epitomizes the spirit of personal filmmaking. For Laemmle Theatres and its dedicated moviegoers, Henry Jaglom will be remembered not only as a filmmaker, but for his candid, provocative, and enduringly human spirit.