Los Angeles, May 3 (IANS) Screenwriter John Lafia, who co-wrote horror film Child's Play and also co-wrote and directed Child's Play 2, committed suicide here. He died on April 29, 2020. He was 63 at the time of his death. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, the cause of death was suicide, reports variety.com. Lafia collaborated with director Tom Holland and Don Mancini on the horror movie screenplay and was credited with coining the name 'Chucky. He also gave the famous line, "Hi, I'm Chucky, wanna play?" Child's Play Movie Review: Critics Give Mixed Responses to the Film as Mark Hamill Entertains With His Voiceover But Chucky's CGI Doesn't.

"We're devastated to hear of the passing of our friend John Lafia. He was a crucial part of the ‘Chucky' family from the very beginning," said Child's Play creator and screenwriter Don Mancini said.

"He co-wrote the original Child's Play script along with director Tom Holland and myself, and John directed Child's Play 2', the consensus favourite film among ‘Chucky' fans. John was an incredibly generous artist. He let me tag along with him to every meeting, and shadow him on set, he taught me more about filmmaking during the production of that movie than several semesters in film school. John was also one of the most naturally curious and constantly creative people I ever met, someone who was always taking pictures, and jotting down ideas," Mancini added. New Child's Play Poster is a Nightmare for Toy Story 4 Fans; See Pic!.

Born in 1957, Lafia's first major credit was 1988's The Blue Iguana, which he wrote and directed in addition to producing its soundtrack. In 1993, he wrote and directed the science fiction film Man's Best Friend. His other directing credits include the TV series Freddy's Nightmares, The Rats and the live-action video game Corpse Killer. His last project was the TV movie Firestorm: Last Stand at Yellowstone in 2006, starring Scott Foley and Richard Burgi. He is survived by his children, Tess and Kane, and his former wife Beverly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2020 10:30 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).