Morgan Spurlock, the documentary filmmaker who chronicled his own mental and physical symptoms caused by eating McDonald’s every day for a month in the 2004 Oscar-nominated film “Super Size Me,” died Thursday in upstate New York from complications from cancer. He was 53.
Spurlock’s family confirmed his death.
“It was a sad day as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” said Craig Spurlock, who worked with him on several projects. “Morgan gave so much through his art, his ideas and his generosity. Today the world has lost a true creative genius and a special person. I am so proud to have worked alongside him.”
Spurlock rose to fame with “Super Size Me,” a film in which he experimented by eating only McDonald’s food for 30 days. The rules included being unable to decline the “super size” option while ordering. The filmmaker also reduced his physical activity to match that of the average American. By the end of the experiment, Spurlock claimed to have gained 25 pounds and suffered from depression and liver problems.
“Super Size Me” captured the zeitgeist when it was released in 2004, grossing $22 million worldwide and sparking debate about the fast food industry contributing to malnutrition among the general public. McDonald’s dropped its super-sized menu after the film’s release. The documentary is still used as a teaching tool in some school health classes, but it has since sparked debate over its accuracy, with some criticizing Spurlock for not disclosing the food he ate during filming.
Spurlock was born on November 7, 1970 in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and was raised as a Methodist but later became an agnostic. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Studies from New York University in 1993.
In the thirteen years following Super Size Me, Spurlock enjoyed further success under his own production company, Warrior Poets, producing and directing nearly seventy documentary films and television series. Spurlock’s wide-ranging body of work was fueled by his coverage of controversial current events. His projects covered issues such as the U.S. war in Afghanistan (Where’s Osama Bin Laden?), minimum wage and migrant workers (30 Days), consumer sensitivity to marketing (The Greatest Movie Ever Made), trophy hunting and body modification (The Seven Deadly Sins), elderly care and gambling (Morgan Spurlock: Inside Man), and corporate pressure on family farms (Holy Chicken!).
In December 2017, as the #MeToo movement was gaining momentum, Spurlock published a lengthy social media post in which he said he was “part of the problem.” In the post, he admitted to having had multiple extramarital affairs and said he had resolved sexual harassment allegations from a former assistant. He also said he had been accused of rape in college. The post effectively ended Spurlock’s documentary career, and he left the Warrior Poets shortly thereafter.
Mr. Spurlock is survived by his two children, Laken and Karen, his mother, Phyllis Spurlock, his father, Ben (Iris), his brothers, Craig (Carolyn) and Barry (Buffy), numerous nieces and nephews, and his former spouses, Alexandra Jamison and Sarah Bernstein.
