Canadian director Ted Kotcheff, known for First Blood and Weekend at Bernie’s, dead at 94

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Canadian Ted Kotcheff’s six decades career in film and television directing in the 1980s included the first part of two hit film franchises in the 1980s at the age of 94.

During his career, Kotcheff directed stars like Jane Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Gregory Peck and Kathleen Turner, landed in Hollywood for work after guiding work in the UK, Australia and Israel for many years. In Canada, he directed two novel adaptations of his former roommate Mordecai Richler. Duddy Kravitz’s Apprenticeship and Joshua then and nowboth won domestic film awards.

But he is known for his work in the 1980s. He directed in 1982 First bloodthe first of five movies, including the troubled Vietnamese veterinarian John Rambo, seven years later, the camera fell behind the camera. Weekend in BernieWhen the party guests were overwhelmed, this saw two unfortunate lower-floor cars around the boss’s body.

“No matter where I’ve been in the world, I think everyone has seen two movies: First blood and Weekend in Bernie,” he wrote in his 2017 memoir, Director’s edit: My movie life.

But Kotcheff would rather explore new ideas, so he chose not to participate in future movies and Rambo and Weekend in Bernie figure.

He wrote: “Sequels are not my business because I don’t like to repeat myself.” Director’s cuts.

In later years, Kotcheff served as executive producer, with nearly 300 episodes of one of the longest shows on TV, Law and Order: Department of Special Victimsdirected seven episodes of the NBC series.

Watch | The Creative Partnership between Ted Kotcheff and Mordecai Richler:

Creative partnership between Ted Kotcheff and Mordecai Richler

The filmmakers and writers explain how they worked together to make Richler’s novels Joshua and Now a movie.

SVU star Mariska Hargitay described Kotcheff as “a person’s charm comes from an unrestricted lifelong appetite.”

“Ted tells the truth, directs the truth, pulls out the truth of all the actors he works with,” Hajiti said. “You can see, in his performances in our shows and in all the movies.”

He was born in Toronto on April 7, 1931 in William Theodore Kotcheff, the last name of his Macedonian mother and Bulgarian father. He recalled living in a stove-free boathouse in Toronto’s Muchau Town, gasping for a trip to the theater with a hard growth.

“I was fascinated by what I saw on the big screen,” he wrote.

Starting from CBC in the 1950s

After studying at the University of Toronto, he worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation General Motors Theater and On the camera.

He later said: “In 1952, I had no objection to the future of television. I just wanted a storytelling job.”

Wanting to stretch his wings further, Kochev landed in Europe where he eventually met Richler, a foreigner, calling it “one of the most important relationships in my life.” He will direct some prestige dramas on British TV and won the BAFTA Award in 1971 for such a work.

During this time, he married British actress Sylvia Kay, the couple welcomed three children in a decade of marriage.

After directing the 1971 Australian thriller Wake up in horrorStill appearing on the list of certain cult movies, Kotcheff’s explanation of Duddy Kravitz was selected as the top film at the 1974 Canadian Film Awards.

“Every day is a revelational experience with Richard [Dreyfuss] …He is always full of excitement and entertainment. ” Kochev later wrote.

The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes, and Kochev began to attract attention in the United States, leading to his most persistent Hollywood work.

Play with Dick and Jane The beginning of popular movies

George Segal’s two films as the protagonists – Play with Dick and Jane (Co-starred by Fonda) and Who is killing the great chef of Europe? – Follow North Dallas Forty With Nick Nolte.

“Because I’m not a football fan, I don’t respect the sport, which is a plus sign that shows little-known truth,” Kotcheff said.

First blood The film was in production for nearly a decade later. According to a 1972 novel by Canadian writer David Morrell, in the Hollywood way, the project played several other names before Kotcheff and Sylvester Stallone finally collaborated. Additionally, Kirk Douglas was fired after the shooting began, replaced by Richard Crenna.

“Rambo is a household name now, it’s very interesting First blood It is produced independently and no one wants to distribute it. ”

The film was shot at multiple locations in British Columbia – setting the stage for the story’s Washington state environment. After its release in November 1982, it estimated that the global box office was $125 million.

He would praise Stallone for breaking four ribs in production because he was “deeply committed to” the character, but Kotcheff had little time for a Rambo sequel.

“These sequels are spin-offs that almost contradict Rambo’s initial idea of ​​being a Frankenstein monster,” Kotcheff told The Toronto Star in 1989.

After directing and producing another Vietnam-themed film, Uncommon courage With Gene Hackman and Patrick Swayze of Kotcheff Joshua then and now Despite being denied in the Best Film and Director category, it will continue to win five Elves awards. Joshua In a 1982 drama about the cult, Kotcheff reunited with James Woods, Split image.

Kotcheff, who wrote the script, appeared together at noon on CBC to promote the film.

“This is a very difficult novel to adapt to, and has gone through about 19 drafts, [and] We finally succeeded in getting a great script. ”

Back to Hollywood, Switch channels (1988) was not warmly welcomed by critics and moviegoers, leading to Kotcheff’s words “apple juice instead of champagne,” partly due to the friction between Renault and Turner.

Kotcheff will be with Weekend in Bernie. Compared to the mostly selfish characters in the movie, he recalls a scene full of friendship.

“The film has an ironic edge about human behavior related to the audience,” he wrote in 2017.

Before landing the Law and Order franchise with tenures from 1999 to 2012, Kotcheff spent much of the 1990s professionally directing TV movies and working with Charles Bronson, Dennis Farina and Roma Downey.

Kotcheff’s survivors also include his second wife, Laifun and their two children.

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