Distinguished British independent film producer Jeremy Thomas, whose visionary career spanned five decades and earned nine Academy Awards for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 masterpiece "The Last Emperor," has passed away at the age of 77, according to obituary tributes published by The Guardian.
Born into a family of prominent British filmmakers, Thomas established Recorded Picture Company in 1974, dedicating his career to championing uncompromising auteur cinema outside the commercial Hollywood studio system. His legendary production filmography includes boundary-pushing cinematic milestones such as Nagisa Oshima’s "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence," David Cronenberg’s "Crash" and "Naked Lunch," and Jonathan Glazer’s "Sexy Beast."
Thomas’s crowning commercial and critical triumph came with "The Last Emperor," an ambitious international epic filmed inside Beijing’s Forbidden City with unprecedented historical access granted by the Chinese government. The film achieved a rare clean sweep at the 60th Academy Awards, capturing all nine Oscars for which it was nominated, including Best Picture for Thomas.
Tributes from across the global film industry celebrated Thomas as a fiercely independent cinematic maverick whose unyielding loyalty to daring directors redefined international art-house cinema. The British Film Institute (BFI) hailed his legacy as one of the most vital in British cinematic history.
