Monte Hellman, the director behind 1970s cult classics Two Lane Blacktop and Cockfighter, as well as being instrumental in getting Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut Reservoir Dogs off the ground, has died aged 91.
Hellman was born Monte Himmelman in 1929, and after studying theatre at Stanford University set up a theatre company in Los Angeles.
Hellman then completed arguably his best-known film as a director: Two-Lane Blacktop, which was released in 1971.
The latter film turned out to be a fortuitous connection as Hellman and its executive producer, Richard N Gladstein, discovered the Tarantino’s script of Reservoir Dogs, then an unknown writer.