Acclaimed filmmaker Sidney Lumet dies at 86
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Filmmaker Sidney Lumet died Saturday. He was 86.
Lumet, whose film career spanned more than 50 years, died of lymphoma at his home in New York, said Marc Kusnetz, who is the husband of Lumet’s stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel.
Lumet had a rich and diverse career directing primarily dramatic films, often with cops and lawyers at the center. His best-known works include the influential ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ and ‘Serpico,’ both in which he collaborated with Al Pacino.
Those movies, as well as films such as his acclaimed ‘Prince of the City,’ used a gritty New York City as a backdrop. ‘He also directed the enduring broadcast-news satire ‘Network,’ which many pundits now deem prophetic.
Lumet was a prolific director who continued directing well after the 1960s and ‘70s heyday of himself and his compatriots. In the 1980s he directed the legal thriller ‘The Verdict’ and the radicalism tale ‘Running on Empty.’
Lumet continued making movies into his twilight years, most recently directing Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke in the 2007 caper-cum-morality drama ‘Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.’
His daughter Jenny continues in the family business as a screenwriter.
Despite four nominations, Sidney Lumet never received a directing Oscar. He was eventually given a lifetime achievement Academy Award in 2005.
-- Steven Zeitchik
