Neal Jimenez was an American screenwriter and film director who was born on May 22, 1960, and died on December 11, 2022.

He is best known for his work on the 1986 film River’s Edge. In 1994, he was a member of the Sundance Film Festival’s dramatic jury. For The Waterdance, he won Independent Spirit Awards for Best First Feature and Best Screenplay.

Jimenez was born into a Mexican-American household in Sacramento, California. He attended Santa Clara University initially to study English but later changed his major to theater, film, and television at UCLA.

He fell 20 feet into a tiny pool in 1984 while hiking with some buddies while still a film student after slipping on a rock.

Initially paralyzed from the neck down, he became paraplegic until additional surgeries allowed him to move his upper body again. He co-wrote and co-directed the movie The Waterdance, which was partially inspired by his recovery.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Jimenez scripted a number of movies, most notably River’s Edge. He was also a script doctor. At the age of 62, Jimenez passed away from heart failure in Arroyo Grande, California, on December 11, 2022.

BREAKING! Where will be Neal Jimenez buried? Burial site and Find a Grave details

There is no information about Jimenez’s funeral arrangements yet