Jackie Burch, the famed casting director who worked on hit franchises like “Die Hard,” “The Hunger Games,” “Predator” and more, has died at the age of 74.
According to friend and fellow casting director Gail Goldberg, Burch died Sunday at her Atlanta home following a four-month battle with endometrial cancer.
As a casting director, Burch’s resume spanned a number of hit films, working with iconic creators such as John Hughes, Peter Bogdanovich, Warren Beatty, John Landis and many more.
“We are heartbroken and in shock at the prospect of living without our vibrant, charming, funny, special and incredibly loving mom,” her family said in a statement. “Her generous spirit touched so many lives – professionally and personally – and we are endlessly proud of the legacy she leaves behind.”
Burch’s career rose in the early ’80s, with the casting director working on such films as “Psycho II,” and “Smokey and the Bandit Part 3.” She quickly fell in with Hughes, casting several of the director’s iconic teen movies like “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Weird Science.”
Soon after, Burch began working on a number of Arnold Schwarzenegger-starring action movies, serving as the casting director on “Commando,” “Predator” and “The Running Man” (a film with a remake soon on the way). She would continue working in the action world, eventually casting John McTiernan’s hit film “Die Hard,” which features key performances from Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman.
In the 2010s, Burch began doing local casting on a number of massive franchise films, including “Iron Man 3,” the “Hunger Games” series and “Ant-Man.” During this period, she served as the southeast casting director on “Hidden Figures,” a film that went on to multiple Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) and an Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture win at the SAG Awards. She continued working into the 2020s.
Burch herself was recognized at the Primetime Emmys in 2015, receiving a nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or a Special for “Bessie” alongside Billy Hopkins. She was nominated seven times for the Casting Society of America’s Artios Awards, winning in 2017 for “Hidden Figures.”
Jackie is survived by her daughters, Samy Burch (who wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for “May December” alongside Alex Mechanik) and Molly Burch (a former singer/songwriter) who helms Picnic Studio, an art nonprofit for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She is also survived by sons-in-laws Mechanik and Dailey Toliver, as well as her twin sister, Janice Papolos.
