By Richard Natale and Carmel Dagan
CREDIT: AP PHOTO/ARCHIV/BRIAN DIGGS
Czech-born director Milos Forman, who won best directing Oscars for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus," has died. He was 86.
Forman died Friday in the U.S. after a brief illness, his wife, Martina, told the Czech news agency CTK. She said that "his departure was calm, and he was surrounded the whole time by his family and his closest friends."
Forman was also known for directing "Hair," "Ragtime" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt."
Directors' Guild president Thomas Schlamme said, "Miloš was truly one of ours. A filmmaker, artist, and champion of artists' rights. His contribution to the craft of directing has been an undeniable source of inspiration for generations of filmmakers. His directorial vision deftly brought together provocative subject matter, stellar performances and haunting images to tell the stories of the universal struggle for free expression and self-determination that informed so much of his work and his life.