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Mary Helen Eilts, born October 2, 1949, passed away at age 72 on January 7, 2022. She died from complications of Huntington's disease. She was born in Michigan, raised predominantly in Ohio, and lived her adult life between Hollywood (California), Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), and Chapala (Jalisco, Mexico).
Mary was married to her work and her children were the films she created. As a director and producer of film, her career took her all over the world meeting people from all walks of life. Her career began behind the camera when she was moving cables during a live televised broadcast to make a little extra money and a camera man collapsed. She got the man help and then automatically took over manning the camera. This was unheard of being she was a woman and it was the late 1960s...but she simply said over the set radio to the grumbling outrage "do you want this done or not?" From then on, she was behind the camera or behind the scenes putting a vision to the madness of film.
By 1975, she was a film and television unit manager, by the early 1980s she was assistant directing and by the mid-1980s she found her favorite part of film...production. From producer to production manager and back again, producing was what she loved and eventually started her own production company. Mary was an esteemed member of the Directors Guild of America, along with other film society organizations.
Mary was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Mary Rita Eilts of Reynoldsburg, Ohio and two grand-nieces, Ireland Joyce Owens and Hazel Lily Lawrence. She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Henry & Sally Eilts (of Plano, Texas) and sister and brother-in-law, Rose & Ron Holeman (of Olympia, Washington). She is also survived by her nephew and niece-in-law, Christopher and Mary Owens and their children (Ivy and Ella); her niece and nephew-in-law Jennifer and Ben Lawrence and their children (Isabelle and Scarlett); and by her niece and nephew-in-law, Mary Catherine and Reed Heath and their children (Renner and Margaret).
In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation in her memory to The Huntington's Disease Society of America.
So turn on a movie tonight and raise a glass... to all those faces behind the camera that you never see that make the magic happen. Cheers to the magic of the movies made possible by Mary and those like her and cheers to Mary Helen and the incredible ride of a life she had.
