NEWSAcademy Award Nominated Director Peter Bogdanovich Dead At 82
Legendary filmmaker and actor Peter Bogdanovich has died at 82-years-old.
The Great Buster director passed away of natural causes at his Los Angeles home around midnight on Thursday, January 6, according to his daughter Antonia via The Hollywood Reporter.
Known for his charming personality, trademark glasses and ascot, Bogdanovich got his start as a professional actor in the 1960s and quickly made a name for himself as an up and coming director.
The beloved Hollywood auteur first struck directorial fame in 1971 with his second film, The Last Picture Show, a stylistic, black and white feature set in 1950s Texas, which earned him two Academy Award nominations — Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
"Bogdanovich, 31, has achieved a tactile sense of time and place," author Stefan Kanfer praised the film in Time magazine after its premiere. “More, he has performed that most difficult of all cinematic feats: he has made ennui fascinating. Together, that is enough to herald him as possibly the most exciting new director in America today.”
The Sopranos actor went on to direct hits such as What's Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Daisy Miller and more. Bogdanovich also wrote a script titled One Lucky Moon, which was in pre-production at the time of his death and would have been his final film as a director.
Upon news of his passing, friends and fans flocked to social media to offer their love and support for the late filmmaker and his incredible career.
The Shape of Water director Guillermo del Toro tweeted: "Peter Bogdanovich passed away. He was a dear friend and a champion of Cinema. He birthed masterpieces as a director and was a most genial human. He single-handedly interviewed and enshrined the lives and work of more classic filmmakers than almost anyone else in his generation."
Producer and writer Larry Karaszewski also heaped praise onto the beloved director. "Peter Bogdanovich loved the movies," he tweeted. "Making them, watching them, analyzing them, talking all night long about them. 'Paper Moon' and 'What’s Up Doc?' are two of the most entertaining films of all time. Put on an ascot and watch them tonight. R.I.P."
Bogdanovich is survived by his two daughters, Antonia and Sashy, as well as his grandchildren — Maceo, Levi and Wyatt.
