Chuck Russell, director of The Mask with Jim Carrey, dies aged 74

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Film-maker who reshaped The Mask as an exuberant comic spectacular and launched the film careers of Cameron Diaz and the Rock

The film-maker Chuck Russell, who has died aged 74, described himself as “a thrill junkie with a sense of humour”. The proof was in the pudding: his madcap comedy The Mask (1994) resembled a cinematic knickerbocker glory overflowing with colour, vitality and fun. Its star Jim Carrey called it “one of the jewels of my creative life”.

Before Russell was attached to the project, The Mask had been doing the rounds in Hollywood for several years as a horror script. Once he came on board, he persuaded the studio New Line Cinema to let him reshape it as an exuberant comic spectacular. “I wanted to take the various things I know about special effects and apply it to dance and comedy,” he said.

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