British film director John Schlesinger, whose Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboyand thrillers like The Falcon and the Snowman explored lonely underdogs inmodern society, died today. He was 77.
The filmmaker had a debilitating stroke in December 2000, and his conditiondeteriorated significantly in recent weeks.
He was taken off life support in a hospital in Palm Springs, California,yesterday and died early today, spokeswoman Ms Eva Saltonstall said.
"He did pass this morning," she said at Desert Regional Medical Centre,declining any further information.
Schlesinger broke ground with 1969's Midnight Cowboy, which starred Jon Voightas a naive Texan who turns to prostitution to survive in New York and DustinHoffman as the inadequate, ailing vagrant Ratso Rizzo.
The film's homosexual theme was regarded as scandalous, but the tale ofunderdogs trying to survive in a merciless metropolis was embraced by criticsand Hollywood despite its shocking sequences.
Based on a novel by James Leo Herlihy, Midnight Cowboy was nominated for sevenAcademy Awards and won three - best director, best picture and best adaptedscreenplay.
It was the only X-rated film ever to win the Oscar for bestpicture reflecting changing standards, the rating was later lowered to an"R."
The stocky, bald-headed filmmaker - who was gay - said in 1970: "I'm onlyinterested in one thing - that is tolerance. I'm terribly concerned about peopleand the limitation of freedom. It's important to get people to care a little forsomeone else. That's why I'm more interested in the failures of this world thanthe successes."
PA