Beatles movie producer Denis O’Dell dies at the age of 98
Los Angeles, Jan 1 :British film producer and director Denis O’Dell who worked with the legendary British rock band The Beatles on the movie “A Hard Day’s Night” and other productions, died at his home in Almería, Spain on Friday, at the age of 98.
His son Arran O’Dell said that his father died overnight at his house in Almería, in southeast Spain.
He said the family has planned a local private service and a memorial service at a later date in the United Kingdom.
Denis O’Dell was an associate producer of “A Hard Day’s Night”, the rock band’s debut film, and “How I Won the War”, in which John Lennon appeared as a supporting actor.
He produced the 1967 Beatles film “Magical Mystery Tour”, as well as “The Magic Christian”, which featured Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr.
O’Dell’s memoir of his time with the Fab Four came out in 2003 and was called “At the Apple’s Core: The Beatles from the Inside”.
O’Dell became a director of The Beatles’ new organization, Apple Corps, and the head of Apple Films.
He is the father of “Exodus: Gods and Kings” producer Denise O’Dell, and grandfather of Denis Pedregosa, producer of Netflix hit “The Paramedic”.
O’Dell’s connection with movies stretches back to the ‘40s.
He had produced six movies, such as Brian Desmond Hurst’s “The Playboy of the Western World” in 1962, before his association with the Beatles, which began in professional terms with O’Dell taking an associate producer credit on Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day’s Night,” starring the Beatles and released in 1964.
O’Dell recalled in his memoir “At the Apple’s Core, The Beatles From The Inside” how he raised funding from United Artists to make “The Lord Of The Rings” – John wanted to play Gandalf – only for Stanley Kubrick to persuade the Beatles over lunch that the books were “unmakable”, variety.com said.
Another never-made project was scripted by playwright Joe Orton and included the Beatles appearing in drag, committing murder and ending up in jail.
Such was the Beatles’ gratitude to O’Dell, that on “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number),” one of the last songs the Beatles recorded, Lennon introduces McCartney as a lounge singer called “Denis O’Bell.”(UNI)
