Barry Blaustein, the celebrated comedy writer and filmmaker renowned for his long partnership with Eddie Murphy, has died at 72. A former Saturday Night Live writer who helped craft classics like Coming to America and The Nutty Professor, Blaustein left an indelible mark on wrestling culture by directing the groundbreaking 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he passed away following a brave fight against Parkinson’s disease and stage four pancreatic cancer.
“Barry Blaustein, the former Saturday Night Live writer whose decades-long collaboration with Eddie Murphy included Buckwheat, Gumby and Mr. Robinson sketches and the Coming to America and Nutty Professor films, died Tuesday. After a rigorous battle with Parkinson’s disease — he was diagnosed in mid-2017 — he was told last month that he had stage four pancreatic cancer.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Beyond the Mat remains one of professional wrestling’s most powerful and influential films. Directed, produced, and narrated by Barry Blaustein, it blended his lifelong passion for the sport with uncompromising honesty, pulling back the curtain on its brutal realities. The documentary intimately follows three wrestlers at pivotal moments, Mick Foley at his peak, Terry Funk facing retirement, and Jake “The Snake” Roberts battling addiction while offering glimpses into ECW, the independents, and even 90s WWE.
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