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Hollywood legend John Hockridge, the acclaimed first assistant director who worked on huge TV shows and movies including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), directed by Leonard Nimoy, died in Portland, Oregon on Friday April 17 at the age of 79 following a battle with liver cancer. He was diagnosed with stage 4 in December 2025. His daughter Lindsey Hockridge confirmed the sad news to the Hollywood Reporter.

The star was well known for his collaborations with director Peter Segal. The pair worked on eight films together, including the huge hits Anger Management, 50 First Dates and the remake of The Longest Yard, all of which starred Adam Sandler. They had worked together since the beginning of Segal's career and he had been employed on the director's first three features 1994's Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, 1995's Tommy Boy and 1996's My Fellow Americans.

Describing his work in 2003 John said: "Generally, we ADs are logistics people. I jokingly say that I'm the chief yeller and screamer on the set.

"But I really don't work that way and don't like people who do. The biggest job an AD has is trying to minimise the time for the DP to have the set and actors ready and the cameras rolling," he clarified.

John first arrived in Hollywood in 1969 and spent a year studying at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Following that he began his career working on commercials.

He would go on to work on iconic shows such as Charlie's Angels and T.J. Hooker, which starred William Shatner who he would work with again when he landed his first movie gig on Star Trek III.

Other television work included stints on Matt Houston, Airwolf, Beauty and the Beast and The District.

On the big screen he was kept busy working on movies such as 1994's Drop Zone, 1995's Nick of Time (1995), 1990's Ghost, 2001's Rat Race and 2003's Scary Movie 3 (2003).

He was contracted to work for Paramount for many years but eventually went freelance. He retired from the business in 2013 and spent a lot of time travelling the world.

He is survived by his daughters, Lindsey and Kailey; their partners, Michael and William, and his three grandchildren.