John Guilbert Avildsen December 21 1935 June 16 2017 was an American film director He won the Academy Award for Best Director in 1977 for Rocky Other films he directed include Joe Save the Tiger Fore Play The Formula Neighbors For Keeps Lean on Me The Power of One 8 Seconds Inferno Rocky V and the first three The Karate Kid films Avildsen was born in Oak Park Illinois the son of Ivy née Guilbert and Clarence John Avildsen He was educated at The Hotchkiss School and New York University After starting out as an assistant director on films by Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger John Avildsen received his first success with the low budget feature Joe 1970 which received critical acclaim for star Peter Boyle and moderate box office business This was followed by another critical success Save the Tiger 1973 that was nominated for three Oscars winning Best Actor for star Jack Lemmon Avildsens greatest success was Rocky 1976 garnering ten Academy Award nominations and winning three including Best Picture and Best Director He later directed what was expected to be the series final installment Rocky V 1990 His other films include Cry Uncle 1971 Neighbors 1981 The Karate Kid 1984 The Karate Kid Part II 1986 The Karate Kid Part III 1989 Lean on Me 1989 and 8 Seconds 1994 Avildsen was the original director for both Serpico 1973 and Saturday Night Fever 1977 but was fired over disputes with producers Martin Bregman and Robert Stigwood respectively
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