Richard 'Dicky' Deats dies

Key grip Richard "Dicky" Deats, who won a Technical Achievement Academy Award for that design and output of the "Little Large Crane" for film production, died in Whitefish, Mont., on This summer 14. He was 66. Born in Los Angeles, Dicky became a member of his father like a second generation Local 80 grip in 1964. He received his Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 1982 his "Little Large Crane" was the very first portable film crane. Cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and Caleb Deschanel almost solely used Dicky his or her key grip on films including "The Black Dahlia," "National Treasure," "The Patriot," "The Devil's Advocate," "Maverick," "The River," "Close Encounters from the Third Kind" and "Heaven's Gate." Dicky labored with company directors including John P Palma, Clint Eastwood, Roland Emmerich, William Friedkin, Taylor Hackford, Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson, Steven Spielberg, Jon Turteltaub and Irwin Winkler. Dicky is made it by two sons, Jerry, additionally a key grip, and Jimmy a daughter, author-producer Danyi three siblings and 10 grandchildren. Donations might be designed to Children's Hospital, La. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com