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Peter Bogdanovich notably produced “The Last Session” (1971), which won eight Oscar nominations, for two statuettes won.
Peter Bogdanovich in Los Angeles, April 7, 2017.
Getty Images via AFP
American filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, figure of the “New Hollywood” movement and director of “The Last Screening”, has died at the age of 82, his agent announced Thursday.
Entering the world of cinema as a critic, Peter Bogdanovich made his directorial debut with “The Target”, before devoting himself to writing his ode to America in the 1950s, “The Last Session” (1971) . The film, set in a small town in Texas going through hard times, garnered eight Oscar nominations, winning two statuettes. Some observers have compared it to Orson Welles’ masterpiece “Citizen Kane”.
“I am devastated. He was a great and wonderful artist. I will never forget the premiere of The last session», Reacted star director Francis Ford Coppola. “I remember the end (of the screening), the audience stood up all around me to applaud for at least 15 minutes… May they rest in joy for all eternity, savoring the exhilarating moment of our applause forever, ”added the filmmaker in a statement.
The role of a DJ in “Kill Bill”
After other successes in the early 1970s, such as “Shall we pack up, doctor?” with Barbra Streisand and “Cotton Candy”, Peter Bogdanovich’s career began to decline, with a series of flops. The director was also linked with model Dorothy Stratten, killed by her husband shortly before the release of “And everyone was laughing”, where she appeared on screen alongside Audrey Hepburn.
After marrying Dorothy Stratten’s half-sister and then ruining himself, Peter Bogdanovich left Los Angeles for New York, where he became a film critic once more. Towards the end of his career, he had played in cinema and television, notably playing the shrink of Tony Soprano’s shrink in the series “The Sopranos”, or a DJ in “Kill Bill” by Quentin Tarantino.
He was born in 1939 in Kingston, New York. The causes of his death have not been specified. “He was a dear friend and a herald of the cinema”, tweeted the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, greeting someone who “made masterpieces” and was moreover “very pleasant”.
(AFP)