Gordon Carroll

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}{{Infobox person

| name = Gordon Carroll

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = Charles Gordon Carroll III

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|02|02|}}

| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|09|20|1928|2|2|}}

| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| occupation = Film producer

| years_active = 1968–2005

| notable_works = Alien franchise (1979–1997)

| education =

| alma_mater = Princeton University

| spouse =

| family = Robert Carroll (brother)

| children =

| website =

}}

Charles Gordon Carroll III (February 2, 1928 – September 20, 2005) was an American film producer. He is known for his work on the Alien franchise (1979–2004), for which he co-founded Brandywine Productions with David Giler and Walter Hill, to produce the Alien film series. He was also associated with Jack Lemmon, producing four films through the actor's Jalem Productions company (1964–1970). He died on September 20, 2005, in Los Angeles, California.

Early life and career

Carroll was raised in New York City where he was influenced by his father's love of literature. He received his education from Princeton University in advertising{{cite web|url=https://paw.princeton.edu/memorial/charles-gordon-carroll-iii-%E2%80%9949|title=Memorial Charles Gordon Carroll III '49|work=Princeton Alumni Weekly|access-date=May 18, 2022}} and after military duty as a first lieutenant in the Korean War, he returned to Manhattan and entered the advertising world at Foote, Cone & Belding.

He began his film career as executive producer of How to Murder Your Wife, which was filmed in March 1964 and produced through Jack Lemmon's independent film production company, Jalem Productions. In August 1964, Lemmon appointed Carroll vice president of Jalem Productions.{{Cite web |date=1964-08-15 |title=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/684512033/ |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last=Jay Emanuel Publications |first=Inc |url=https://archive.org/details/motionpictureexh72jaye |title=Motion Picture Exhibitor (Jul-Oct 1964) |date=1964 |publisher=Philadelphia, Jay Emanuel Publications, Inc. |others=Media History Digital Library}} From there, he went on to produce other films through Jalem, including Luv and Cool Hand Luke (both 1967), and The April Fools (1969).

After parting ways with Lemmon, he partnered with Paul Newman (who had starred in Cool Hand Luke) to make Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973). He later worked on such films as Blue Thunder (1983) starring Roy Scheider, The Best of Times (1986) starring Kurt Russell and Robin Williams, and Red Heat (1988) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Belushi. He also produced the first five films of the Alien franchise: Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), Alien Resurrection(1997), and Alien vs. Predator (2004).

Death

Carrol died of a heart attack on September 20, 2005, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., at the age of 77. His body was cremated and his ashes were given to his family.

Filmography

He was producer for all films unless otherwise noted.

=Film=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Credit ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" \| Notes
1965	How to Murder Your Wife	Executive producer	for Jalem Productions
rowspan=2\| 1967	Luv	Executive producer	for Jalem Productions
Cool Hand Luke	Executive producer	for Jalem Productions
1969	The April Fools	Executive producer	for Jalem Productions
1973	Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
1979	Alien
1983	Blue Thunder
rowspan=2\| 1986	The Best of Times
Aliens	Executive producer
1988	Red Heat
1992	Alien 3
1997	Alien Resurrection
2004	Alien vs. Predator		Final film as a producer