U.S. cinema has lost one of its finest filmmakers with the death of New Hollywood icon Peter Bogdanovich. The director died at the age of 82 of natural causes, as confirmed by his daughter Antonia Bogdanovich.
After starting out as a film programmer and critic, Bogdanovich made his first film in with the sci-fi Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women and the crime thriller Target.
He followed this up with perhaps his most well-known work: 1971’s The Last Picture Show, a coming-of-age drama, starring Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd, was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Director and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).
Bogdanovich commendably never committed to one genre. His next film was a screwball comedy, 1972’s What’s Up Doc?, the acclaimed Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal vehicle that was later included on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest comedies of all time.
He then reunited with O’Neal for Paper Moon, which made his daughter Tatum O’Neal the youngest competitive winner in Oscar history when she won for the Award for Best Supporting Actress.
He continued making films throughout the 80s and 90s, before slowing down in the 00s. His last work was the 2018 documentary on Buster Keaton, The Great Buster: A Celebration.
Tributes have started to come in for Bogdanovich. “He was a wonderful and great artist,” his contemporary Francis Ford Coppola told Deadline. “I’ll never forgot attending a premiere for The Last Picture Show. I remember at its end, the audience leaped up all around me bursting into applause lasting easily 15 minutes.
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I’ll never forget although I felt I had never myself experienced a reaction like that, that Peter and his film deserved it. May he sleep in bliss for eternity, enjoying the thrill of our applause forever.”
Tatum O’Neal remembered the director in an emotional social media post. “Peter was my heaven & earth,” she wrote on Instagram. “A father figure. A friend. From ‘Paper Moon’ to ‘Nickelodeon’ he always made me feel safe. I love you, Peter.”
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Watch a tribute to Peter Bogdanovich:
