John Alvidsen, director of Rocky and The Karate Kid, dies of cancer

news.com.au

17 Jun, 2017 04:13 AM2 mins to read

Rocky director John G. Avildsen has died at the age of 81. Photo / Getty

John Avildsen, the brilliant director behind hit films such as Rocky and The Karate Kid, has died at the age of 81 from pancreatic cancer.

A rep for the director confirmed his death to Variety.

Avildsen was famous for being the "Underdog" director, generally directing movies about 'losers'.

The director garnered such a reputation for his work with characters like Rocky and The Karate Kid that a documentary about his life was entitled John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs.

The 2016 movie featured interviews from Rocky's Sylvester Stallone, The Karate Kid's Ralph Macchio, and, Martin Scorsese.

The director first made a name for himself with the 1970 movie Joe which starred Susan Sarandon and Peter Boyle. The film was a huge box office success, grossing $US19.3 million on an extremely tight budget of $100,000.

And despite Avildsen's reputation for directing movies about traditional 'losers', his movies definitely weren't and he repeatedly scored critical acclaim for his films - especially when it came to the Oscars.

Director John Avildson with his Oscar for 'Rocky' at the 49th Academy Awards in 1977. Photo / Getty

Rocky scored 10 Academy Award nominations in 1976 while 1973's Save The Tiger was nominated for three, with his Karate Kid franchise also receiving a few Oscar nods.

While the original Rocky is still one of the highest nominated films of all times, Avildsen didn't return to the boxing franchise until its fifth movie Rocky V in 1990.

When asked by Variety in 2006 if he regretted walking away from the Rocky franchise for so many years, he called it, "one of my greatest mistakes".

Sylvester Stallone in 'Rocky', directed by John Avildsen. Photo / Getty

Tributes have begun to pour in for the director with celebrities taking to social media to express their grief.

View this post on Instagram

The great director John G. Avildsen Who won the Oscar for directing Rocky! R. I. P. I'm sure you will soon be directing Hits in Heaven- Thank you , Sly

A post shared by Sly Stallone (@officialslystallone) on Jun 16, 2017 at 8:00pm PDT

RIP to my friend and KK director John G Avildsen. He brought inspirational stories to us all and had a guiding hand in changing my life. pic.twitter.com/TRobJn3pq2
— Ralph Macchio (@ralphmacchio) June 17, 2017