Jeremy Thomas, Oscar-winning producer of ‘The Last Emperor,’ dies at 77

Film producer Jeremy Thomas, renowned for his work on The Last Emperor and Sexy Beast, has passed away at the age of 77 in Oxfordshire. His publicist confirmed that he died peacefully surrounded by family and loved ones on Friday. Thomas, who built an international reputation over a five-decade career, worked with directors such as David Cronenberg, Nagisa Oshima, Julien Temple, and Nicolas Roeg.

His most celebrated achievement was Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, earning Thomas an Oscar as producer in 1988. The film starred Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, and Vivian Wu. Thomas frequently collaborated with Bertolucci, producing several of his films including The Sheltering Sky, Little Buddha, Stealing Beauty, and The Dreamers.

He also supported the careers of young British directors like Ben Wheatley, Jonathan Glazer, Stephen Frears, and David Mackenzie. Other notable works by Thomas include Oshima's Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method, Roeg's Bad Timing and Eureka, Fast Food Nation, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, and the film adaptations of JG Ballard's books Crash and High-Rise.

Thomas began his career as a film editor and made his first production appearance on the 1976 Australian film Mad Dog Morgan. In 2006, he received the European Film Academy's award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema, and in 2009, he was appointed a CBE in the New Year Honours. His latest project, the Japanese director Takashi Miike's Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, is set to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday.