Fred Roos

Fred Roos was an American producer and casting director who played a key role in the New Hollywood movement, largely through his work with Francis Ford Coppola. A Santa Monica native, he studied theater arts and motion pictures at UCLA and started in the industry at MCA before shifting to television casting. His first film as producer and casting director was Fight to Fury in 1964, which gave Jack Nicholson an early role. As a casting director he was responsible for Al Pacino in The Godfather, Harrison Ford in American Graffiti and Star Wars, and Tom Cruise in The Outsiders. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing The Godfather: Part II (1974) and also earned nominations for Apocalypse Now (1979) and The Conversation (1974). Other producing credits include The Black Stallion, Barfly, and The Virgin Suicides, and the Casting Society of America honored him with a lifetime achievement award in 1988.