Co-creator of Hell On Wheels and Faster writer dies after battle with cancer

02 June 2023 , 18:18

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Joe Gayton has died

One of the men behind AMC's hit show's Hell On Wheels, Joe Gayton, has died at the age of 66.

The co-creator of the show and writer of other popular series such as Faster sadly passed away following a four-year battle with prostate cancer.

He died last month on May 14 and is survived by his wife Jen Winter.

He first made his mark in Hollywood at the age of 23 when his script for Uncommon Valor was made into a big production starring Gene Hackman.

Other hits he was a part of include the 1996 action comedy he co-wrote with Lewis Colick titled Bulletproff. The flick featured big names in the industry including Damon Wayans and Adam Sandler.

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Joe (R) and his brother Tony (L), whom he collaborated with on various TV projects

Joe married his wife in 2016

Joe worked alongside his brother Tony Gayton for much of his career, with the pair working collaboratively on Hell on Wheels, which ran for a total of five seasons.

As well as the brothers joining forces for the Western television series, they also worked together on 2010 feature film Faster, as well as TV series like Southern Comfort and Novice.

Deadline reports that Joe's brother Tony said: "Joe was one of a kind. He was passionate, creative, loud, boisterous, argumentative, unfiltered, soft-hearted, hilarious, and terrible at the politics of this cutthroat business.

Joe and his brother Tony were the creators, writers and executive producers of Hell On Wheels

"He was a big brother, mentor, writing partner, and best friend to me. Our hearts are shattered at his passing and we will miss him forever."

The publication also revealed that Tony said Joe was working on a new television series - with him writing three seasons worth of material - before he died, and with him not giving up on it until the day he died.

Joe married his wife Jennifer Winter since on May 19, 2016, which means he sadly died just days before they were due to celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary.

Jamie Roberts