Gary DeVore

This article is about the American screenwriter. For the American archaeologist and author, see Gary Devore (archaeologist).

Gary Martin DeVore (September 17, 1941 – June 28, 1997) was an American screenwriter, best known for witty action films and for the mysterious circumstances of his 1997 death.^[1][2]

Gary DeVore
Born	Gary Martin DeVore (1941-09-17)September 17, 1941 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	June 28, 1997(1997-06-28) (aged 55) Palmdale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Screenwriter
Spouses	Maria Cole ​ ​ (m. 1969; div. 1978)​ Sandie Newton ​ ​ (m. 1981; div. 1985)​ Claudia Christian ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 1992)​ Wendy Oates ​ (m. 1996)​

Early career

DeVore began his writing career in the late 1960s on shows like Chuck Barris' The Newlywed Game, The Steve Allen Show, and Tempo.^[3]

Personal life, death, and aftermath

DeVore married the singer Maria Cole (1969–1978)^[3] and the actresses Sandie Newton (1981–1985),^[3] Claudia Christian (1988–1992), and Wendy Oates (1996–1997). Briefly, he worked as vice president of production at De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), before returning to work on films with a three-picture agreement at DEG.^[4]

DeVore disappeared in June 1997, while driving at night from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Santa Barbara, California,^[5] prompting an extensive search and media speculation.^[6] DeVore had been working in his office in Santa Fe trying to finish a script. DeVore had recently complained of writer's block, and so had decided to change his environment. When he finally finished the script, DeVore decided to drive home through the Mojave Desert. His wife Wendy was waiting for him at their beachfront house in Carpinteria, California.^[7] When she did not hear from him, she decided to call around 1 am (it was later discovered the call had not been recorded by the telephone company).^[8] He answered, but was not very specific on his location. This was the last time Wendy spoke with him.

A year later, he and his Ford Explorer were discovered submerged below a bridge over the aqueduct in Palmdale, California.^[6] After police had retrieved the vehicle from the water, it was found that his laptop containing the script (titled The Big Steal) was missing, as was his gun. DeVore's hands were missing; hand bones were found nearby but could not be conclusively identified as DeVore's. The discovery of DeVore's vehicle was considered suspicious, as the aqueduct was searched shortly after his disappearance was reported and nothing unusual was discovered.^[8] Police concluded that for DeVore to crash his vehicle in this location meant that he would have had to have driven 3 mi (4.8 km) against traffic without being seen. This would have been doubly difficult because the vehicle's lights were not switched on.^[8][9]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Writer	Producer
1980	The Dogs of War	Yes	No
1981	Back Roads	Yes	No
1986	Running Scared[3]	Yes	No
	Raw Deal[3]	Yes	No
1988	Traxx	Yes	Yes
1994	Pentathlon	Yes	No

Uncredited Revisions

• The Mean Season (1985)^[10][11]
• Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
• Passenger 57 (1992)^[11]
• Time Cop (1994)^[12]
• Sudden Death (1995)
• The Relic (1997)^[11]

Unrealized Projects

• Betrayals^[13]
• Deadlocked^[13]
• Doin' Fine^[1]
• Father of the Year^[1]
• The Good Fight^[1]
• Happy Trails^[13]
• Hard Knox - A story about a retired detective who investigates the death of his son. Sidney Poitier was slated to star in the film.^[3][14]
• Hard Rock^[13]
• Hole in the Sky^[1]
• Honorable Men - A crime drama that would’ve been produced by Ryan R. Johnson, and directed by Tony Kaye.^[15][16]
• Hoops^[1]
• Hurricane Chaser - A project that would’ve starred Christopher Lambert.^{[17][18][19][13]}
• Joseph Tully^[13]
• Just Maybe^[1]
• Legion^[1]
• The Lights^[13]
• Loudmouth^[13]
• Mazeltov^[1]
• Naked Heroes^[13]
• Portrait of Death^[13]
• Rawhide^[1]
• Seattle Slew^[1]
• Shut Down^[1]
• Solo - An adaptation of the Jack Higgins novel of the same name that Harold Becker was slated to direct.^[20]
• Spare Parts - A story about a cop and an INS officer investigating the black market selling of body parts and their donors, project would’ve been produced by David Foster and Lawrence Turman for Paramount Pictures.^{[21][22][23][24]}
• Spittin' in the Wind^[13]
• Stealth - A film project about the development of the F-117 Stealth Bomber.^[1][14]
• Straight Poole^[1]
• Too Late to Die^[23]
• Wish You Were Here - A Vietnam story featuring a photojournalist and a thirteen-year-old kid searching for his MIA father. Kathleen Turner was to star in the project.^[3][25][26]

Television

Year	TV Series	Credit	Notes
1967-72	The Newlywed Game	Writer
	The Steve Allen Show	Producer
	Tempo	Writer, Producer
1973	Golf for Swingers	Creator
1983	Heart of Steel	Writer, Executive Producer	Tv Movie
1988	CBS Summer Playhouse	Writer, Executive Producer	Episode: The Heat

See also

• List of solved missing persons cases
• List of unsolved deaths