John G. Avildsen
{{Short description|American film director (1935–2017)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John G. Avildsen
| image = John G Avildsen.jpg
| caption = Avildsen in 1975
| birth_name = John Guilbert Avildsen
| birth_date = {{birth date|1935|12|21}}
| birth_place = Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2017|06|16|1935|12|21}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| other_names = Johnny Avildsen
| occupation = Film director
| years_active = 1969–2017
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Marie Olga Maturevich (Melissa McCall)
- {{marriage|Tracy Brooks Swope|1987|2006|end=separated}}
}}
| children = 6, including Ash
| signature = John Avildsen signature.svg
}}
John Guilbert Avildsen (December 21, 1935 – June 16, 2017) was an American film director.
He is best known for directing Rocky (1976), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director. He is also renowned for directing the first three films in The Karate Kid franchise (1984–1989). Other films he directed include Joe (1970), Save the Tiger (1973), The Formula (1980), Neighbors (1981), Lean on Me (1989), Rocky V (1990), 8 Seconds (1994), and Inferno (1999).
Early life
Avildsen was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Ivy (née Guilbert) and Clarence John Avildsen.{{cite news |last=Gilbey |first=Ryan |date=June 19, 2017 |title=John Avildsen obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/19/john-avildsen-obituary |work=The Guardian |access-date=June 19, 2017 |archive-date=June 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619162627/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/19/john-avildsen-obituary |url-status=live }} He was educated at Indian Mountain School, the Hotchkiss School and at New York University.{{cite journal |last1=Lentz |first1=Harris III |title=John G. Avildsen, 81 |journal=Classic Images |date=August 2017 |issue=506 |page=49}}
Career
After starting out as an assistant director on films by Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger and acting as director of photography on the 1969 film, Out of It, Avildsen's early low-budget feature Joe (1970) received good notices for star Peter Boyle and was a big box-office hit grossing nearly $20 million on a $100,000 budget.{{cite news |last=Hoberman |first=J. |author-link=J. Hoberman |date=July 30, 2000 |title=FILM; Off the Hippies: 'Joe' and the Chaotic Summer of '70 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/30/movies/film-off-the-hippies-joe-and-the-chaotic-summer-of-70.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=February 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217062736/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/30/movies/film-off-the-hippies-joe-and-the-chaotic-summer-of-70.html |url-status=live }} Avildsen followed this early success with the low-budget 1971 cult classic comedy film Cry Uncle! (released in the UK as Superdick and on video as American Oddballs), a 1971 American film in the Troma Entertainment library that stars Allen Garfield.{{cite news |last=Thompson |first=Howard |author-link=Howard Thompson (film critic) |date=August 18, 1971 |title=The Screen:'Cry Uncle' Combines Sex and Whodunit |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/18/archives/the-screencry-uncle-combines-sex-and-whodunit.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=June 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625031401/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/18/archives/the-screencry-uncle-combines-sex-and-whodunit.html |url-status=live }} This was followed by Save the Tiger (1973), a film nominated for three Oscars, winning Best Actor for star Jack Lemmon.{{cite news |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=February 15, 1973 |title=Screen: 'Save the Tiger':Lemmon Battles Middle Age at Tower East The Cast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/15/archives/screen-save-the-tigerlemmon-battles-middle-age-at-tower-east-the.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=June 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610200912/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/15/archives/screen-save-the-tigerlemmon-battles-middle-age-at-tower-east-the.html |url-status=live }}
His greatest success came with Rocky (1976), which he directed working in conjunction with writer and star Sylvester Stallone.{{cite book |last1=Powell |first1=Larry |last2=Garrett |first2=Tom |date=2013 |title=The Films of John G. Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid and Other Underdogs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aNTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland & Company |page=94 |isbn=978-0-7864-6692-4 |access-date=2021-06-24 |archive-date=2021-06-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624214318/https://books.google.com/books?id=8aNTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |url-status=live }} The film was a major critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976 and garnering ten Academy Award nominations and winning three, including Best Picture and Best Director.{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|pp=83–84}} Avildsen later returned to direct what was then expected to be the series' final installment, Rocky V (1990).{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|pp=186–192}}
He directed the mystery-drama The Formula (1980), starring Marlon Brando and George C. Scott,{{cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |author-link=Janet Maslin |date=December 19, 1980 |title='The Formula' for Synthetic Oil |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/19/archives/the-formula-for-synthetic-oil.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=June 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625010152/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/19/archives/the-formula-for-synthetic-oil.html |url-status=live }} for which he was nominated for Razzie Award for Worst Director.
Avildsen's other films include Neighbors (1981), For Keeps (1988), Lean on Me (1989), The Power of One (1992), 8 Seconds (1994),{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|pp=116, 161, 168, 195, 202}} and the first three The Karate Kid films.{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|pp=131, 143, 179}}
He was the original director for both Serpico (1973) and Saturday Night Fever (1977), but was fired over disputes with, respectively, producers Martin Bregman and Robert Stigwood.{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|pp=53, 89–90}} Although his job directing Serpico was terminated, Avildsen became long time friends with the film's real life subject Frank Serpico, even sharing a property with him on Long Island, New York during the early 1980s.{{cite AV media |author=D'Ambrosio, Antonino |year=2017 |title=Frank Serpico |type=Documentary |publisher=Gigrantic Pictures, La Lutta NMC |id=IDFC9497}}
His last film was Inferno (1999), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|p=213}}
A documentary on the life, career and films of Avildsen was released in August 2017, approximately two months after his death. John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs (2017), directed and produced by Derek Wayne Johnson,{{cite news |last=Drown |first=Michelle |date=January 26, 2017 |title=John Avildsen: King of the Underdogs |url=https://www.independent.com/2017/01/26/john-avildsen-king-underdogs/ |work=Santa Barbara Independent |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626194010/https://www.independent.com/2017/01/26/john-avildsen-king-underdogs/ |url-status=live }} features interviews with Sylvester Stallone, Ralph Macchio, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Weintraub, and Burt Reynolds, among others.{{cite news |last=Farber |first=Stephen |date=February 8, 2017 |title='John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs': Film Review {{!}} Santa Barbara 2017 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/john-g-avildsen-king-underdogs-review-973174/ |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=September 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230902050048/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/john-g-avildsen-king-underdogs-review-973174/ |url-status=live }} The documentary is a companion to the book The Films of John G. Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid, and other Underdogs, written by Larry Powell and Tom Garrett.{{sfn|Powell|Garrett|2013|p=}}
Personal life
Avildsen's first wife was Marie Olga Maturevich (Melissa McCall). After they divorced, he married actress Tracy Brooks Swope in 1987; they separated in 2006. He had four children. His estranged son, Ash (born November 5, 1981), founded Sumerian Records and has a son, Izzy Avildsen.{{cite web |url=http://www.noisecreep.com/2012/09/25/sumerian-records-ash-avildsen/ |title=Sumerian Records Founder Ash Avildsen on Success, 'Sumeriancore' and His Famous Father (Exclusive) |last=Gitter |first=Mike |date=September 25, 2012 |website=noisecreep.com |access-date=June 17, 2017 |archive-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502090317/http://www.noisecreep.com/2012/09/25/sumerian-records-ash-avildsen/ |url-status=live }} Another son, Jonathan Avildsen, appeared in the films The Karate Kid Part III, Inferno and Rocky V. His eldest son was named Anthony, and he had a daughter, Penelope Avildsen. John also had a daughter with Tracy Swope, named Bridget.
=Death=
Avildsen died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 16, 2017. He was 81.{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/17/533333494/john-avildsen-oscar-winning-director-of-rocky-and-karate-kid-dies-at-81 |title=John Avildsen, Oscar-Winning Director Of 'Rocky' And 'Karate Kid,' Dies At 81 |newspaper=NPR |date=17 June 2017 |access-date=23 June 2018 |last1=Dwyer |first1=Colin |archive-date=24 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010501/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/17/533333494/john-avildsen-oscar-winning-director-of-rocky-and-karate-kid-dies-at-81 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Fleishman |first=Jeffrey |date=June 16, 2017 |title='Rocky' director John G. Avildsen dies at 81 |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-me-john-avildsen-obituary-20170616-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=October 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004064121/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-me-john-avildsen-obituary-20170616-story.html |url-status=live }} The cause of his death was pancreatic cancer, according to his son Anthony Avildsen.{{cite news |last=Salam |first=Maya |date=June 16, 2017 |title=John Avildsen, Director of 'Rocky' and 'The Karate Kid,' Dies at 81 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/movies/john-avildsen-dead-director-rocky-karate-kid.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-date=June 17, 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20170617084919/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/movies/john-avildsen-dead-director-rocky-karate-kid.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | ||
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Turn On to Love | |
| rowspan="2"| 1970 | Guess What We Learned in School Today? | |
| Joe | Also cinematographer | |
| 1971 | Cry Uncle! | |
| 1971 | Okay Bill | |
| 1972 | The Stoolie | |
| 1973 | Save the Tiger | |
| rowspan="2"| 1975 | Fore Play | |
| W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings | ||
| 1976 | Rocky | Academy Award for Best Director Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Direction |
| 1978 | Slow Dancing in the Big City | |
| 1980 | The Formula | Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Director |
| 1981 | Neighbors | |
| 1982 | Traveling Hopefully | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject |
| 1983 | A Night in Heaven | |
| 1984 | The Karate Kid | |
| 1986 | The Karate Kid Part II | |
| 1987 | Happy New Year | |
| 1988 | For Keeps | |
| rowspan="2"| 1989 | Lean on Me | |
| The Karate Kid Part III | Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Director | |
| 1990 | Rocky V | Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Director |
| 1992 | The Power of One | |
| 1994 | 8 Seconds | |
| 1999 | Inferno | Final film |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0000814|John G. Avildsen}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180124225110/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f75b147 John G. Avildsen] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
{{John G. Avildsen}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Awards for John G. Avildsen
|list=
{{Academy Award Best Director}}
{{DirectorsGuildofAmericaAwardFeatureFilm}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avildsen, John G.}}
Category:American people of Norwegian descent
Category:Artists from Oak Park, Illinois
Category:Best Directing Academy Award winners
Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in California
Category:Directors Guild of America Award winners
Category:Film directors from Illinois
Category:Hotchkiss School alumni