Tributes have been paid to the Oscar-winning director of The Deer Hunter, who has died aged 77.
Michael Cimino won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for the 1978 Vietnam War film, starring Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken.
His follow-up, Heaven’s Gate, however, became of Hollywood’s biggest box-office flops and contributed to the near collapse of the studio, United Artists.
Los Angeles County acting coroner’s lieutenant B Kim confirmed Michael – who was living in Beverly Hills – died on Saturday but a cause of death was not released.
Michael had his directorial breakthrough with his second film, The Deer Hunter, the story of the Vietnam War’s effect on a small steel-working town in Pennsylvania. The film won a total of five Oscars.
His debut effort as a film director was the Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges crime caper, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, in 1974.
But his emerging career took a U-turn with 1980′s Heaven’s Gate, a Western starring Kris Kristofferson that was a critical and financial disaster.
Fellow directors led tributes to Michael following news of his death.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article