Stacy Title, the filmmaker who directed the horror movie The Bye Bye Man and was afflicted with ALS, died Monday. She was 56.
Title was nominated for an Academy Award for her short Down on the Waterfront in 1994 and a year later made her feature debut with The Last Supper, starring Cameron Diaz in one of her first roles.
She last directed 2017’s The Bye Bye Man, which was written by her husband, ex-Survivor contestant Jonathan Penner. She also directed horror movies Let the Devil Wear Black, which she also co-wrote, and 2006’s Snoop Dogg’s Hood Of Horror.
But the last three years were spent dealing with ALS, the incurable disease that impairs motor functions, even as she attempted to mount one last movie.
“I don’t want to die, but I’m going to eventually,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in September 2018. “But until then I want to live and direct — doing what I love will be part of my legacy. I don’t want to sit shut away in my chair. I think this will be a beautiful, fun, challenging process for all of us, and I am happy. I want to stay happy.”
Penner and Title were married for 30 years with Penner supporting his wife until the end. When Title was in the hospital in 2018 and visitors were not allowed in the respiratory facility, he created a grand display in the courtyard.
In addition to her husband of 29 years, Title is survived by her son Cooper and daughter Ava Rae.
