John G Avildsen, ‘Rocky’ and ‘Karate Kid’ Director, Dies at 81

Oscar winning director John G. Avildsen has died in Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles Times. He was 81.

Avildsen won Oscar gold for directing the original 1976 “Rocky” starring Sylvester Stallone, and also directed all three of the original “Karate Kid” films. Avildsen also won the DGA Award for directing “Rocky,” which also won Oscars for best picture and film editing and was nominated in multiple other categories.

A representative for Avildsen hasn’t responded to TheWrap’s request for comment.

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Avildsen developed a reputation for making masterful movies about underdogs who become winners.

Avildsen was born in Oak Park, Illinois. He graduated from the prestigious Hotchkiss School and NYU. He started out in the film business as an assistant director on movies by Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger.

Avildsen’s eldest son, Anthony, said the filmmaker died of pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

A documentary on the director’s life and career, “John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs” (2016), directed and produced by Derek Wayne Johnson, features interviews with Stallone, “Karate Kid” star Ralph Macchio, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Weintraub and Burt Reynolds. 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.

Avildsen is survived by a daughter, Bridget, and sons Anthony, Jonathan and Ashley.

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