Michael Crichton, creator of mega hits from “Jurassic Park” to “Twister” and TV’s “ER” loses his battle to cancer.

By Jeffrey Jolson

HOLLYWOOD,CA(RushPRnews/Hollywood Today)11/6/08 – Best-selling author, director and screenwriter Michael Crichton succumbed to cancer at 66. Ironically, his favorite theme in everything from “Jurassic Park,” “Andromeda Strain,” “Congo,” “ER,” and “Twister” was how nature comes up suddenly and snaps over science and technology when push comes to shove. He died in such a matter on Tuesday when he passed unexpectedly, despite his riches and advanced medical attention in Los Angeles.

It was not generally known he had an illness. His family described as a “courageous and private battle against cancer.”

Filmmaking cohort Steven Spielberg said “Michael’s talent out-scaled even his own dinosaurs of ‘Jurassic Park.’ He was the greatest at blending science with big theatrical concepts, which is what gave credibility to dinosaurs again walking the Earth.”

Crichton, was a medical doctor turned novelist and filmmaker whose books have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

Spielberg added: “Michael was a gentle soul who reserved his flamboyant side for his novels. There is no one in the wings that will ever take his place.”

“Andromeda” also was the first novel by Crichton to be made into a Hollywood film. He followed that success with “The Terminal Man,” “The Great Train Robbery” and “Congo.”

But Crichton eclipsed those novels with “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World,” which became two of the top-grossing films of the 1990s. He also co-wrote the screenplay for “Jurassic Park” and for the 1996 tornado thriller “Twister.”

Crichton won a number of writing and film awards and an Emmy for his work on “ER,” the popular and long-running NBC television hospital drama currently in its final season.

“While the world knew him as a great storyteller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes,” his family said in the statement.

“He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.”