Jeff Baena, screenwriter and husband of Aubrey Plaza, dies at 47

Jeff Baena, a screenwriter and director who was married to actress Aubrey Plaza, has died. He was 47.

Baena died on Friday at his home in California, according to records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reviewed by USA TODAY. A cause of death was not available.

USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Baena and Plaza for comment.

Baena and Plaza have collaborated on numerous projects, including the 2014 dark comedy "Life After Beth," which Baena wrote and directed. The film was nominated for the grand jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The couple most recently worked together on the 2022 romantic comedy "Spin Me Round," which featured Plaza alongside stars Alison Brie, Jake Picking and Stella Chesnut.

Rosita Missoni dies: Missoni fashion house co-founder and knitwear pioneer was 93

Baena reportedly met Plaza while playing a game of Balderdash, according to a 2022 GQ profile story on Plaza. The pair, who began dating in 2010, married in a "quickie ceremony" in 2020.

During a December 2021 interview on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Plaza opened up about her impromptu nuptials with Baena, telling host Ellen DeGeneres that the two held a ceremony in their backyard while they were sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I just said, 'Hey, it's our 10-year anniversary. We should do something, get an ice cream cone, you know, do something special. And then I joked about getting married and he's like, 'Well, we probably couldn't get married that fast,'" Plaza said at the time.

She continued: "I said, 'Wouldn't it be nice to get married on our actual anniversary? And then I Googled it, and I found OneHourMarriage.com, and then I called around 5 p.m., and I said, 'Can you come in an hour and marry me in our yard?'"

Regarding her creative relationship with Baena, Plaza told Drew Barrymore in 2021: "It's so complicated. It's extreme highs and extreme complications. It's a really hard thing to navigate, but we've been together for 11 years. We just muscle our way through it."

Baena is survived by Plaza, mother Barbara Stern and stepfather Roger Stern, father Scott Baena and stepmother Michele Baena, brother Brad Baena and stepsiblings Bianca Gabay and Jed Fluxman.

This story was updated to add new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeff Baena dead: Screenwriter and husband of Aubrey Plaza dies at 47