Storyboard Artist J. Todd Anderson Dies at 67
Anderson, who storyboarded every Coen Brothers film from Raising Arizona onward, died Oct. 1 in Orange County after a years-long battle with cancer.
J. Todd Anderson, the storyboard artist whose pencil defined the look of the Coen Brothers' filmography, died on Oct. 1 at age 67. He died at a hospital in Orange County, California, after a years-long battle with cancer, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Anderson was born John Todd Anderson in Springfield, Ohio. He is survived by his mother, his sister and his niece.
Anderson started working in Hollywood in the late 1980s. The first film he storyboarded was 1987's Raising Arizona, which began a long collaboration with Joel and Ethan Coen. He went on to storyboard every Coen Brothers movie, including 1990's Miller's Crossing, 1996's Fargo, 1998's The Big Lebowski, 2004's The Ladykillers, 2010's True Grit, 2016's Hail, Caesar! and 2018's The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
His credits extended well beyond that partnership. He worked on Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Ethan Coen's Drive-Away Dolls (2024) and Honey Don't! (2025), and films including Shane Black's The Nice Guys (2016), The Predator (2018) and Play Dirty (2025), George Clooney's Leatherheads (2008), Drew Barrymore's Whip It (2009), David Lowery's The Old Man & the Gun (2018) and 2012's The Dictator. Additional storyboard credits include 1989's Twister, 1991's The Addams Family, 1994's Nadja, 2002's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, 2010's The Big Bang, 2016's Warcraft and 2023's Fool's Paradise.
Anderson also directed two films, 1999's The Naked Man and 2008's My Mummy, and made on-screen appearances in Fargo, Leatherheads, The Nice Guys and American Violence (2017).
Quick answers
How old was J. Todd Anderson when he died?
He was 67. He died on Oct. 1 at a hospital in Orange County, California, after a years-long battle with cancer.
What films did J. Todd Anderson storyboard?
He storyboarded every Coen Brothers movie, starting with 1987's Raising Arizona and including Fargo, The Big Lebowski, True Grit, Hail, Caesar! and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Other credits include The Nice Guys, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Leatherheads, Whip It, The Old Man & the Gun, The Dictator, The Predator and Play Dirty.
Did J. Todd Anderson direct any films?
Yes. He directed two films: 1999's The Naked Man and 2008's My Mummy.