Timeline December 2002

Events in December 2002 13

• 1921 – 2002 George Roy Hill (1921-2002) Died 27 December 2002, aged 81 George Roy Hill was an American director best known for two hits pairing Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, the second of which won him the 1974 Academy Award for Best Director. A former Marine pilot, he also filmed Slaughterhouse-Five and The World According to Garp. His output was small but commercially and critically strong.
• 1926 – 2002 Ivan Illich (1926-2002) Died 2 December 2002, aged 76 Ivan Illich was an Austrian-born priest and social critic whose books of the 1970s, including Deschooling Society and Medical Nemesis, attacked the way large institutions in education, medicine and transport disable the people they claim to serve. Trained across several disciplines, he ran a research centre in Cuernavaca, Mexico. His ideas influenced environmental and anti-industrial thought.
• 1952 – 2002 Joe Strummer (1952-2002) Died 22 December 2002, aged 50 Joe Strummer was the singer, guitarist and co-songwriter of The Clash, the London punk band whose politically charged records included London Calling and Sandinista!. After the band split in the mid-1980s he worked on film soundtracks and acting before a late return to touring with the Mescaleros. He died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart defect.
• 2001 – 2002 Embracing Latina Heritage Played Latina roles in Tortilla Soup and the PBS series American Family, openly embracing her Bolivian heritage and identity as a Latina actress in Hollywood.
• 2002 2002: Michael Schumacher Ferrari Schumacher won his fifth title in the most dominant season the sport had ever seen, clinching the championship at the French Grand Prix with six races remaining — the earliest in F1 history.
• 2002 Co-founded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Co-founded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics — a direct descendant of the RNA biology his career had helped establish. Alnylam would go on to bring the first RNAi drug to market.
• 2002 Gangs of New York Appeared in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, adding another legendary director to his filmography.
• 2002 Kafka on the Shore Published Kafka on the Shore, featuring a 15-year-old boy who runs away from home and an ageing man who can talk to cats. It became an international bestseller and was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award.
• 2002 Top Gear: The Gambon Corner Appeared on BBC's Top Gear, driving so aggressively that the car went round the final corner on two wheels. The corner was permanently renamed The Gambon in his honour.
• 2002 Star Trek: Nemesis The final TNG theatrical film and the nadir of the Next Generation era. Picard faces a clone of himself (Tom Hardy) who leads the Romulan Empire. Director Stuart Baird reportedly had no familiarity with Star Trek. Poor reviews and a catastrophic box office performance ($67 million against a $60 million budget) ends the TNG film series. The franchise enters a five-year dormancy.
• 2002 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers #2 film of 2002 — $926m worldwide Directed by Peter Jackson. The fellowship is broken and its members face new challenges as Sauron's forces grow.
• 2002 The Two Towers -- Helms Deep battle The Two Towers is released on 18 December 2002, grossing $926 million worldwide. Its centrepiece -- the 40-minute Battle of Helm's Deep, shot largely at night over two months -- is one of the most technically demanding battle sequences in cinema history. The Massive crowd simulation software generates thousands of Uruk-hai soldiers; practical extras and stunt performers fill the foreground. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) sliding down a shield and firing an arrow while doing so becomes one of cinema's most replayed action moments. The Two Towers wins 2 Oscars from 6 nominations (visual effects, sound editing).
• 2002 The Clash's Joe Strummer dies Aged 50 Dies of an undiagnosed heart defect.