Oscar-winning director John G. Avildsen, whose 1976 Rocky shot Sylvester Stallone to instant acclaim and became an ageless classic, has died at the age of 81.
Rocky got Avildsen his Best Director Oscar, as well as winning Best Picture at the 1977 Academy Awards.
His oldest son Anthony informed the L.A. Times that Avildsen died from pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Last year, Avildsen revealed to The Baltimore Sun that he almost didn’t make Rocky: “When this script came to me from an old friend…