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John G. Avildsen

 
Director: John G. Avildsen
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Dec 21, 1935 in Oak Park, Illinois
  • Occupation: Director, Cinematographer, Writer
  • Active: '70s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Rocky, The Karate Kid, Save the Tiger
  • First Major Screen Credit: Out of It (1969)

Biography

Director John G. Avildsen's career endured many ups and downs. Not only has he produced a string of bombs, and low-budget films, the self-described dreamer has also produced some of the most popular films of our time--most notably the triple Oscar winning Rocky(1976) and the thematically similar Karate Kid (1984). The son of a Chicago tool manufacturer, Avildsen worked as a copywriter at an ad agency; he then served as a chaplain's assistant in the military before coming to Hollywood in the early 60s where he first worked as a production manager, assistant director, and cinematographer before directing his first films--best forgotten according to some critics--in the late '60s. His first hit was the low-budget (he filmed it himself) sleeper Joe (1970), which told the tale of a bigoted construction worker and made a star of Peter Boyle. After the smashing success of Rocky the director did not have another major commercial hit until The Karate Kid, even though some of his films featured popular stars such as Burt Reynolds, W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, Marlon Brando, The Formula, and John Belushi (in his last film), Neighbors. He followed The Karate Kid with 3 sequels. In 1989 he created the fine drama Lean on Me, which showcased the talents of the charismatic Morgan Freeman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: John G. Avildsen
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John G. Avildsen
Born December 21, 1935 (1935-12-21) (age 73)
Oak Park, Illinois, USA
Occupation Film director
Years active 1969 - present

John Guilbert Avildsen (born December 21, 1935) is an American film director.

His films include Guess What We Learned in School Today? (1970), Cry Uncle! (1970), Joe (1970), Save the Tiger (1973), Rocky (1976), The Karate Kid (1984), Lean on Me (1989), Rocky V (1990), The Power of One (1992) and 8 Seconds (1994).

Rocky won Avildsen an Academy Award for Best Director. He directed seven actors to Oscar nominations: Jack Lemmon, Jack Gilford, Burgess Meredith, Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Pat Morita.

His most recent directorial work was Dancing into the Future (2007).

Filmography

External links


v • d • e
Academy Award for Best Director

Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise (1961) · David Lean (1962) · Tony Richardson (1963) · George Cukor (1964) · Robert Wise (1965) · Fred Zinnemann (1966) · Mike Nichols (1967) · Carol Reed (1968) · John Schlesinger (1969) · Franklin Schaffner (1970) · William Friedkin (1971) · Bob Fosse (1972) · George Roy Hill (1973) · Francis Ford Coppola (1974) · Miloš Forman (1975) · John G. Avildsen (1976) · Woody Allen (1977) · Michael Cimino (1978) · Robert Benton (1979) · Robert Redford (1980)

Complete List · (1927–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
v • d • e
The Karate Kid series
Films
Characters
Cast
Crew
Music
Locations
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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