Acclaimed British director Michael Apted has died in Los Angeles. He was 79 and no cause of death was immediately available.
Apted is most famous for helming the series of decades-spanning Seven Up documentaries along with numerous films across the decades.
Making his debut with “The Triple Echo” in 1972 and followed that up with 1974’s “Stardust”. He became quite well known in the 1980s and 1990s as an American thriller director with films such as “Blink,” “Gorky Park,” “Extreme Measures,” “Enigma” and “Enough”.
Some of his more well known film include famed Sissy Spacek Oscar-winning drama “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” the Oscar nominated “Gorillas in the Mist” with Sigourney Weaver, “Nell” with Jodie Foster and “Critical Condition” with Richard Pryor.
He also directed several big studio films, most famously Pierce Brosnan’s third James Bond film “The World is Not Enough” in 1999, and the fantasy sequel “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” which suffered from its budget being slashed in half.
He was also known for helming music documentaries like “Bring on the Night” and “The Long Way Home,” and also served three terms as president of the Director’s Guild of America from 2003-09.
Source: THR
