Michael Cimino dead at 77

The Deer hunter director has passed away.

by Jennie Kermode

The director of The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino received his Leopard award on the Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival
The director of The Deer Hunter Michael Cimino received his Leopard award on the Piazza Grande at the Locarno Film Festival Photo: Richard Mowe

Michael Cimino has died at the age of 77, Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux has announced. The director of The Deer Hunter, and Desperate Hours and The Sicilian was a popular figure on the festival circuit and had recently released a long-awaited director's cut of his most troubled film, Heaven's Gate, in Venice.

Cimino directed a total of eight films in his lifetime and wrote several more, including science fiction classic Silent Running. He recently spoke to us about the huge collection of screenplays he wrote but never managed to bring to the screen.

No details of the cause of death have been released but Cimino is said to have passed away peacefully in the company of the two women who loved him.

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