Alan Metter, Director of ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ and ‘Back to School,’ Dies at 77

Alan Metter, best known for directing the 1980s films “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and “Back to School,” died on June 7, his family confirmed to Variety. He was 77.

Metter was born in Sharon, Mass., on Dec. 19, 1942. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1965 with a degree in philosophy and moved to Los Angeles shortly thereafter to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

He started out directing music videos for the likes of George Harrison and Olivia Newton-John, but rose to prominence in the 1980s as the director of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” starring Sarah Jessica Parker, “Back to School” with Rodney Dangerfield and “Moving” featuring Richard Pryor. His work continued into the 1990s as he directed Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in their breakout films “Billboard Dad” in 1998 and “Passport to Paris” in 1999.

Metter retired from entertainment in the early 2000s and moved to Florida, where he met his partner, Katherine O’Flynn Christian. Together, they designed an award-winning summer home in Truro, Mass., that was on the cover of New England Home Magazine in 2019.

“The last decade gave him some of his happiest years. He had love all around him. He met Katherine, saw his only son succeed in love and life, and welcomed his granddaughters into his world and watched them grow with pride,” his son Julian Metter told Variety. “A beautiful final chapter for a beautiful man. He was a great friend, an adoring partner, an amazing father and the best grandfather ever.”

Metter is survived by his son, daughter-in-law Kelsey Metter, granddaughters Jasmine and Kaiya Metter, his partner Katherine O’Flynn Christian and her children, Gillian and Simon, and grandchildren, Rhys, Owen and Jack.