Ivan Passer

Ivan Passer 10 July 1933 9 January 2020 was a Czech film director and screenwriter best known for his involvement in the Czechoslovak New Wave and for directing American films such as Born to Win 1971 Cutters Way 1981 and Stalin 1992 Passer was born in Prague the son of Marianna Mandelick and Alois Passer Passer attended King George boarding school in Pod?brady with future filmmakers Miloš Forman Jerzy Skolimowski and Paul Fierlinger and statesman Václav Havel He then studied at FAMU in Prague but did not finish the course He began his career as an assistant director on Ladislav Helges Velká samota Later he collaborated with his friend Forman on all of Formans Czech films including Loves of a Blonde 1965 and The Firemens Ball 1967 both of which Passer cowrote and which were nominated for Academy Awards He introduced Forman to cinematographer Miroslav Ond?í?ek whom he knew from Velká samota He then directed his first feature Intimate Lighting which was released in 1965 and is considered by some to be Passers masterpiece In 1969 after the Warsaw Pact invasion Passer and Forman left Czechoslovakia together Both proceeded to the United States with Forman becoming an Academy Awardwinning filmmaker Passer went on to make several prominent American films such as Born to Win 1971 a junkie drama starring George Segal and Karen Black and Cutters Way 1981 a dramatic thriller starring Jeff Bridges and John Heard Though best known for his idiosyncratic often gritty dramas he also directed comedies such as Silver Bears 1978 starring Michael Caine and Creator 1985 starring Peter OToole Later in his career he directed numerous films for television most notably the awardwinning biopic Stalin 1992 starring Robert Duvall for HBO He was also a film professor at the University of Southern California Passer died on January 9 2020 from pulmonary complications in Reno Nevada He was 86 years old Description above from the Wikipedia article Ivan Passer licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia