Barry Blaustein, a comedy writer and filmmaker best known in wrestling circles as the director of the acclaimed documentary “Beyond the Mat”, has passed away at the age of 72.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blaustein died after a battle with pancreatic cancer, which he was diagnosed with last month at stage four. He had also been living with Parkinson’s disease since mid-2016. Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, where Blaustein taught for many years, announced his passing.
Blaustein wrote, directed, and produced the wrestling-themed documentary “Beyond the Mat”, released in 1999. He called it “the favorite thing he had ever done,” and it was among the 12 finalists for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature that year.
In addition to “Beyond the Mat”, he directed the 2005 comedy “The Ringer”, which starred Johnny Knoxville, Brian Cox, and Katherine Heigl. He also directed the 2010 dysfunctional family dramedy “Peep World”, featuring Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, and Ben Schwartz.
Born on Long Island, New York, Blaustein began his career as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” just before its sixth season, during which Eddie Murphy was a prominent cast member. He partnered with David Sheffield, and together they were promoted to head writers and then supervising producers before leaving the show in 1983.
Having developed a strong rapport with Murphy, Blaustein and Sheffield became the comedian’s long-time writing partners, creating some of Murphy’s most memorable work, including the 1988 hit movie “Coming to America”. They are also credited as co-writers for the 1996 remake of “The Nutty Professor” and its 2000 sequel, “The Nutty Professor II: The Klumps”. The two reunited with Murphy for the sequel “Coming 2 America”, which was released in 2021. On “SNL”, they created some of Murphy’s most iconic skits, including parodies of Gumby, Buckwheat from “The Little Rascals”, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Other notable skits included impersonations of James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Jesse Jackson, and the character Velvet Jones.
Blaustein dedicated two years to securing funding and approval for “Beyond the Mat”, followed by another year traveling the country to document WWE wrestlers, including WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley, the late Terry Funk, and Hall of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Vince McMahon, the head of WWE, was reportedly unhappy with the documentary and even threatened to sue to prevent its release.
Barry Blaustein is survived by his wife, Debraa, whom he married in 2021; his children, Corey and Kasey; and his granddaughter, Daisy.
On behalf of PWMania.com, we extend our condolences to the friends and family of Barry Blaustein.
