Obituary

Obituary

Jillian Kesner-Graver, 58, Actress & Orson Welles's Collaborator, Dies

Irvine, Calif., Dec. 18 (AP) - Jillian Kesner-Graver, actress and Orson Welles's collaborator who worked closely with her late husband, cinematographer Gary Graver, died unexpectedly early Wednesday morning, December 5th at Irvine Regional Hospital. She was 58.

In announcing her death, her family said, "Unfortunately Jillian was diagnosed with Leukemia and briefly after the diagnosis, her life was taken by a Staph infection. She has now joined over 90,000 other people who die each year from this horrible infection. With this sadness there is also light, now knowing that Jillian has joined her beloved Gary, who died almost exactly one year prior. We celebrate her life in this hard time knowing how much such loved life and touched so many people in this world and with our deepest reverence for her we feel blessed she was such a beautiful part of our lives."

Ms. Kesner starred in many films & TV shows over the last 30 years including action films where she was known for her kick boxing fighting techniques. Some of these films included Cirio Santiago's Firecracker (1981), Moon in Scorpio (1987), and Jaded (1989). Her TV appearances included Happy Days, Three's Company, Mork and Mindy, and The Rockford Files. She also served as an associate producer and production coordinator in many other films. Quentin Tarantino had once confessed to her that he was a great fan of hers.

Along with her husband Gary Graver, Jillian tried to raise $3.5 million to piece together the film, The Other Side of The Wind, from Welles's script and editing notes. "They had recently untangled the rights to the film and had been working on a deal with Showtime," said the Variety film critic Todd McCarthy, who was making a documentary with Gary & Jillian.

Following Gary's death, Jillian continued to pursue their dream of the Welles postproduction project. She traveled to film festivals around the world honoring Gary & Orson's work, and shined more light on the project that was yet to be completed. She also took over running his equipment and film operations.

Jillian will always be known for her beauty, grace, humor, talent, intelligence, profound respect for others and innate sensitivity.

Jillian is survived by her mother, Patricia Kesner; two sisters, Connie Meehleis and Cindy Mesina; numerous nieces and nephews; and two stepson's Sean and Chris.

Memorial services will be held at the American Cinematheque Egyptian Theatre, Saturday January 19th from 4-6pm. For more information please email info@jilliankesner.com.