In the United States, on the 82nd year of his life, director John Evildsen, who made the first film of the "Rocky" series and the popular picture "The Karate-Guy".

Evildsen died in a hospital in Los Angeles. The death of the director, a long time suffering from pancreatic cancer, was reported by his son Anthony.

The film "Rocky" in the script of actor Sylvester Stallone tells about the way to the success of boxer Rocky Balboa. "Rocky" was the highest grossing film in 1976, despite a fairly low budget. The film received the award of the US film academy as the best picture, and Evildsen - "Oscar" as the best director. "Rocky": the most successful bad film in the history of cinema? The Klitschko brothers and Stallone have opened the musical "Rocky" The movies of the Evildsen trilogy "The Karate Kid" also became box-office hits.

The first picture, released in 1984, collected in the US $ 90 million with a budget of $ 8 million.

In 1973, actor Jack Lemon also received an Oscar for his lead role in Evildsen's "Save the Tiger".

"For decades, his inspirational stories of feelings, courage and victory have captured the hearts of entire generations of Americans," says the president of the Guild of America's directors, Paris Barclay, about the death of Evildsen. This is reported by BBC Russian Service.