‘Parent Trap’ and ‘Father of the Bride’ Legend Dies After ‘Brief Illness’: Charles Shyer Was 83

Oscar-nominated writer Charles Shyer, known for The Parent Trap and Father of the Bride, has died at 83. His daughter, writer and director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, told The Hollywood Reporter that the director died on Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after a brief illness. Shyer is the son of one of the DGA founders, veteran assistant director Melville Shyer. He began his career writing for sitcoms The Odd Couple, The Partridge Family, and Barefoot in the Park in the early 1970s.

With Alan Mandel, Shyer created the short-lived ABC musical sitcom Getting Together, which ran for a total of 14 episodes from September 1971 to January 1972. The series’ pilot aired as the first-season finale of The Patridge Family. After Getting Together, Shyer wrote the TV movies Lady Luck and Let’s Switch! in 1973 and 1975, respectively.

His big break came in 1977 when he wrote the screenplay for the box office smash Smokey and the Bandit with Mandel and James Lee Barrett. Starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed, and Jackie Gleason, the film made $127 million on a $4.3 million budget. On top of being the second-highest-grossing domestic film of 1977 in the U.S., it spawned a whole franchise, including two sequels and a television miniseries. Shyer was not part of the sequels or miniseries.

Charles Shyer teamed up with then-wife Nancy Meyers and Harvey Miller to write the screenplay for the 1980 film Private Benjamin. Directed by Howard Zieff, the film was Goldie Hawn’s first big-screen starring role and centered on a Jewish American princess who enlists in the U.S. Army after she becomes a widow on her wedding night. The writing trio was nominated for the Oscar for original screenplay but lost to Bo Goldman, who won for Melvin and Howard.

Shyer and Meyers tied the knot in 1980 and collaborated on many films for the next two decades until their divorce in 1999. Movies include Lindsay Lohan’s The Parent Trap, Baby Boom, both The Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II, Private Benjamin, and I Love Trouble. As if Shyer couldn’t get more impressive, he also directed several films, including Irreconcilable Differences in 1984, Baby Boom in 1987, Father of the Bride in 1991, and Father of the Bride Part II, to name a few.

The final film that Shyer directed was the 2022 Netflix Christmas rom-com The Noel Diary, which he also co-wrote with Rebecca Connor and David Golden. His final film came the following year, which was also a Netflix Christmas rom-com, Best. Christmas. Ever!. He co-wrote with Todd Calgi Gallicano and also served as a producer. He is survived by his daughters Annie and Hallie Meyers-Shyer, as well as twins Jacob and Sophia from his third marriage to Deborah Lynn Shyer. His first marriage was to actress Diana Ewing.