British film director Nicolas Roeg, whose credits include The Man Who Fell to Earth and The Witches, has died.
His son Nicolas Roeg Jr said the director and cinematographer had just celebrated his 90th birthday in August.
The filmmaker's career spanned six decades, and he worked with major rock stars Mick Jagger and David Bowie.
His last major film was an adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic The Witches in 1990.
"He was a genuine dad," Roeg Jr said, without revealing details about his father's death.
Roeg worked his way into directing after winning acclaim as a cinematographer. He began his career as an editing apprentice in 1947. He said he couldn't understand how someone could become a director without first working in cinematography.
Roeg didn't believe in meticulous planning when it came to scripts and shooting schedules, preferring to give himself room to manoeuvre and improvise as needed. He was fond of saying that God laughed at people who made too many elaborate plans.
"I shoot a lot of stuff," he said. "I think that's probably come from not having gone to film school. Things work themselves out. You've lost the showmanship thing, the fairground barker, come-see-what's-inside aspect of filmmaking when you try to plan everything for the audience."
Roeg, who was born in London, worked on several famous films including Lawrence of Arabia and Fahrenheit 451 before he entered the directing ranks in 1970.
APTN / Newshub.
