J. Todd Anderson, the storyboard artist behind such films as “The Nice Guys” and “Raising Arizona” and a longtime Coen Brothers collaborator, has died following a battle with cancer. He was 67 years old.
His death was confirmed in an Oct. 3 Facebook post by George Willeman, co-host of the “Filmically Perfect” podcast. “My former pod partner, J. Todd Anderson, passed away in California on October 2nd,” Willeman wrote. “Just a few months ago we got together and made plans to bring the series back since we still had/still have a lot of movies to talk about. While that’s not possible right now, we hope to keep the website alive so our old episodes can still be watched.”
His sister, Kimberly Patterson, confirmed his death to the nonprofit FilmDayton in a post on social media.
Anderson first began his work as a storyboard artist in the late 1980s with the Joel and Ethan Coen-written comedy “Raising Arizona.” From then on, Anderson worked frequently with the Coen Brothers, storyboarding each of their films. These include “Miller’s Crossing”, “Fargo”, “The Big Lebowski”, “The Ladykillers”, “True Dare”, “Hail Caesar!” There was also. and “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” in addition to his solo projects such as “Drive-Away Dolls” and “Honey Don’t” by Ethan and “The Tragedy of Macbeth” by Joel.
Beyond the Coen Brothers, he is known for working on 1989’s “Twister,” 1991’s “The Addams Family,” 2009’s “Whip It,” 2018’s “The Predator” and 2016’s “The Nice Guys.” During his career, he wrote “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “Hail Caesar!” He was nominated for three awards from the Art Directors Association for his films. He also directed the films “The Naked Man” in 1999 and “The Mummy” in 2008.
John Todd Anderson was born in Springfield, Ohio, then attended Wright State University. The Tom Hanks Center for Motion Pictures at the university paid tribute to Anderson on Facebook.
“A distinctive storyteller, he directed two feature films, published a book of storyboards for ‘The Big Lebowski,’ co-hosted Filmically Perfect (listen below), and wrote the lyrics and music for the pop musical ‘Nativity.’ He also generously shared his stories and knowledge with emerging filmmakers whenever they requested,” they wrote. “Rest well, JT. We’ll toast you tonight.”