Barry Blaustein has sadly passed away at the age of 71. He was best known for his collaborative work with comedy legend Eddie Murphy, directing the wrestling documentary Beyond the Mat, and his roles in the hit movies Coming to America and The Nutty Professor.
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Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, where Balustein was a long-time professor, confirmed his passing. He'd been fighting a battle with stage four pancreatic cancer, which he was diagnosed with in April 2026. Blaustein had also been battling Parkinson's disease.
"It was one of the great pleasures of my life to know Barry," Stephen Galloway, dean of Dodge College, said in a statement, via The Hollywood Reporter. "He faced his declining health with a level of stoicism I've never seen and kept his warmth and humor throughout. Even when he could no longer drive, he kept on teaching. It's a sign of how beloved he was that a group of faculty created a shuttle service to take him back and forth to Chapman. He's irreplaceable. We'll miss him enormously."
During a previous discussion with the Parkinson's Foundation, Blaustein spoke of the importance of remaining positive and not letting the disease win.
"You've got to be realistic, but you've got to stay upbeat because you can't let this disease defeat you," he said. "It wants you to stay home, it wants you to lie down, to go into your shell. That's not a way to live a life. You've got to fight it."
Barry Blaustein Loved Teaching
During his time as a professor at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Blaustein taught screenwriting. When speaking to the college's newspaper, "The Panther" in 2015, Balustein shared his love for teaching.
"There was a student who was struggling with her script, and I knew she had talent," Blaustein said. "The same day they announced the filming of Coming 2 America, that student handed in a version of her script where she finally got it. I was more excited about that than I was about Coming 2 America...I find teaching students really inspiring, and I hope to make them better writers, because I know they make me a better writer."
There are currently no further details regarding Blaustein's passing, including information regarding his funeral. However, it's clear that he will be missed. He certainly touched hundreds, if not thousands of lives, leaving positivity wherever he went.
