# James Foley (director)
**James Foley** (1953–2025) was an American film, television, and music-video director best known for the 1992 screen adaptation of [David Mamet](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-mamet)'s Pulitzer Prize-winning play *Glengarry Glen Ross*, for directing several of Madonna's music videos, and for the two *Fifty Shades of Grey* sequels[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). His career was marked by genre-hopping, from commercial multiplex thrillers to talky TV dramas to erotic romances[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/08/james-foley-dead-film-director).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | Born 1953 in Brooklyn, New York; died May 2025 at age 71 after a battle with brain cancer[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193) • [3](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/) |
| Directorial debut | *Reckless* (1984), a high-school romance with Aidan Quinn and Daryl Hannah[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/08/james-foley-dead-film-director) |
| Signature film | *Glengarry Glen Ross* (1992), adaptation of David Mamet's Pulitzer-winning play, with Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Jack Lemmon, and Ed Harris[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193) |
| Madonna collaborations | Music videos for "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", and "True Blue", plus the 1987 comedy *Who's That Girl*[4](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-05-09/muere-james-foley-director-de-las-secuelas-de-cincuenta-sombras-de-grey-glengarry-glen-ross-y-varios-videos-de-madonna.html) |
| Television | An episode of *Twin Peaks*, 12 episodes of *House of Cards*, plus episodes of *Billions*, *Wayward Pines*, and *Hannibal*[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193) |
| Biggest box office | The two *Fifty Shades of Grey* sequels, *Fifty Shades Darker* (2017) and *Fifty Shades Freed* (2018), gave him his highest-grossing credits[4](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-05-09/muere-james-foley-director-de-las-secuelas-de-cincuenta-sombras-de-grey-glengarry-glen-ross-y-varios-videos-de-madonna.html) |
## Life and education
Foley was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on [Staten Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/staten-island). He earned a master's degree in film study and production from the [University of Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-southern-california)[3](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/). While in the last year of film school, director [Hal Ashby](https://www.edgepedia.org/hal-ashby) discovered Foley's student short at a film school party and took a liking to him; Foley later attributed his ability to make his first feature to the Ashby stamp of approval[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). Foley died in May 2025 at age 71, passing peacefully in his sleep after a yearslong struggle with brain cancer[3](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/).
## First features and Madonna
Foley's debut, the romantic drama *Reckless* (1984) for [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](https://www.edgepedia.org/metro-goldwyn-mayer), starred [Aidan Quinn](https://www.edgepedia.org/aidan-quinn) and [Daryl Hannah](https://www.edgepedia.org/daryl-hannah)[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). It was an acrimonious start: the film received negative reviews and angered screenwriter Chris Columbus, who disowned it[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/08/james-foley-dead-film-director).
He received better notices for his follow-up, the crime drama *At Close Range* (1986), starring [Sean Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-penn) and [Christopher Walken](https://www.edgepedia.org/christopher-walken); in the same year he began working with Madonna, who was married to Penn at the time, and Foley was the best man at their wedding[2](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/08/james-foley-dead-film-director). His work with the singer spanned the music videos for "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", and "True Blue", the concert film *Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour*, and the 1987 screwball comedy *Who's That Girl*, which starred Madonna alongside [Griffin Dunne](https://www.edgepedia.org/griffin-dunne)[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193) • [4](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-05-09/muere-james-foley-director-de-las-secuelas-de-cincuenta-sombras-de-grey-glengarry-glen-ross-y-varios-videos-de-madonna.html).
His third decade opened with the neo-noir thriller *After Dark, My Sweet* (1990), adapted by Foley himself, with [Jason Patric](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-patric)[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). Critic Roger Ebert included it in his great movies list, calling it "one of the purest and most uncompromising of modern film noir" despite its having been "almost forgotten"[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193).
## Glengarry Glen Ross
The 1992 adaptation of David Mamet's foulmouthed [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize)-winning play stood above the rest of Foley's filmography[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). Although it was not a hit at the time, it grew into an oft-quoted cult favorite, especially [Alec Baldwin](https://www.edgepedia.org/alec-baldwin)'s made-for-the-film "always be closing" monologue[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). The cast featured [Al Pacino](https://www.edgepedia.org/al-pacino), Alec Baldwin, Jack Lemmon, and Ed Harris[4](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-05-09/muere-james-foley-director-de-las-secuelas-de-cincuenta-sombras-de-grey-glengarry-glen-ross-y-varios-videos-de-madonna.html), and Pacino received an Oscar nomination for the performance[5](https://los40.com/2025/05/09/muere-james-foley-que-puso-en-imagenes-la-saga-50-sombras-de-grey-y-era-un-habitual-de-madonna/). Foley later described the danger in Mamet-style material: actors could be seduced by the superficial gratification of saying rhythmic dialogue quickly, so his job was to prevent them from merely declaiming well-written lines[6](https://freshairarchive.org/segments/remembering-glengarry-glen-ross-director-james-foley).
## Journeyman years
Following the highs of his early 1990s work, Foley became a director for hire in the studio system, moving across genres[7](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/james-foley/). He directed the teen thriller *Fear* (1996) with [Mark Wahlberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-wahlberg) and Reese Witherspoon, an adaptation of John Grisham's courtroom drama *The Chamber* (1996) with Gene Hackman, and the crime film *The Corruptor* (1999) with Wahlberg and Chow Yun-Fat[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). Several years later he re-emerged with the con-man thriller *Confidence* (2003), starring Paul Giamatti, Dustin Hoffman, and Rachel Weisz, followed by the big-budget thriller *Perfect Stranger* (2007) with Bruce Willis and Halle Berry[3](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/).
Television kept him continuously active through the 2010s: an episode of *Twin Peaks* in the 1990s was followed by episodes of *House of Cards* (12 of them), *Billions*, *Wayward Pines*, and *Hannibal*[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193) • [4](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-05-09/muere-james-foley-director-de-las-secuelas-de-cincuenta-sombras-de-grey-glengarry-glen-ross-y-varios-videos-de-madonna.html). His work on *House of Cards* for Netflix brought him into contact with producer Dana Brunetti, and after working with him on numerous episodes of the series, Foley emerged as the frontrunner to direct *Fifty Shades Darker*, the sequel to Universal's blockbuster, which had grossed $569 million worldwide on a $40 million production budget[8](https://www.thewrap.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-sequel-eyes-house-of-cards-director-james-foley/). *Fifty Shades Freed* (2018) marked his last film[3](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/).
## Style and self-assessment
Foley considered his refusal to repeat himself deliberate. In a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said he had no interest in pigeonholing himself: "I've always just followed my nose, for better or for worse, sometimes for worse. What's worst is you get pigeonholed and what's best is I haven't been. It means that I'm still making movies, despite hopping all over the place"[1](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193). Around the time of *Confidence*, he linked his films through recurring subjects, saying he saw "groupings of males and the dynamics among them" across his work[3](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/).
## References
1. [James Foley, 'Glengarry Glen Ross' director, dies at 71, The Associated Press (2025)](https://apnews.com/article/3ae3f63ac80d2505ba7db9b57e433193)
2. [James Foley, director of Fifty Shades sequels and Glengarry Glen Ross, dies aged 71, The Guardian (2025)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/08/james-foley-dead-film-director)
3. [James Foley, Director of 'Glengarry Glen Ross' and 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Sequels, Dies at 71, TheWrap (2025)](https://www.thewrap.com/james-foley-dies-obit-fifty-shades-of-grey-sequels-director/)
4. [Muere James Foley, director de las secuelas de 'Cincuenta sombras de Grey', 'Glengarry Glen Ross' y varios vídeos de Madonna, El País (2025)](https://elpais.com/cultura/2025-05-09/muere-james-foley-director-de-las-secuelas-de-cincuenta-sombras-de-grey-glengarry-glen-ross-y-varios-videos-de-madonna.html)
5. [Muere James Foley que puso en imágenes la saga '50 sombras de Grey', LOS40 (2025)](https://los40.com/2025/05/09/muere-james-foley-que-puso-en-imagenes-la-saga-50-sombras-de-grey-y-era-un-habitual-de-madonna/)
6. [Remembering 'Glengarry Glen Ross' director James Foley, Fresh Air Archive, NPR](https://freshairarchive.org/segments/remembering-glengarry-glen-ross-director-james-foley)
7. [James Foley, TV Insider profile](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/james-foley/)
8. ['Fifty Shades of Grey' Sequel Eyes 'House of Cards' Director James Foley, TheWrap (2015)](https://www.thewrap.com/fifty-shades-of-grey-sequel-eyes-house-of-cards-director-james-foley/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Directors, producers, and screenwriters › Film directors by country and region › North and South American directors › Contemporary American directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license