Oscar-winning “Rocky” hemler John Avildsen dies
John G Avildsen, who won an Oscar for directing the original “Rocky” (1976), starring Sylvester Stallone, and also directed all three of the original “Karate Kid” films, has died in Los Angeles. He was 81.
A representative confirmed his death.
Avildsen also won the DGA Award for directing “Rocky”, which also won Oscars for best picture and film editing and was nominated in multiple other categories.
Stallone said in a statement, “I owe just about everything to John Avildsen. His directing, his passion, his toughness and his heart — a great heart — is what made 'Rocky' the film it became. He changed my life and I will be forever indebted to him. Nobody could have done it better than my friend John Avildsen. I will miss him.”
In 1983, he was Oscar nominated again, this time for the documentary short “Traveling Hopefully”.
Avildsen developed a reputation for making movies about underdogs who somehow become winners.
Avildsen's other films included the critically hailed drama-thriller “Joe” (1970), starring Susan Sarandon and Peter Boyle. It was his first success as a director, and was praised for Peter Boyle's performance.
“Save the Tiger” (1973), an issue-oriented drama sporting an outstanding starring performance from Jack Lemmon, was nominated for three Oscars, with Lemmon winning best actor. The three Oscar nominations for “Save the Tiger” and the win for Lemmon secured Avildsen's place on the list of go-to directors. His other films included comedy “W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings” (1975), starring Burt Reynolds; thriller “The Formula” (1980), starring George C Scott and Marlon Brando; eerie comedy “Neighbors” starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd; pregnancy comedy “For Keeps?” (1988), starring Molly Ringwald; drama “Lean on Me” (1989), which helped launch Morgan Freeman's career; and bull riding biopic “8 Seconds” (1994), starring Luke Perry.
John Guilbert Avildsen was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He graduated from the prestigious Hotchkiss School and NYU. He started out in the film business as an assistant director on movies by Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger.
Source: Variety
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