Rambo First Blood and Weekend at Bernie’s director Ted Kotcheff dies aged 94
His family confirmed his passing.
Ted Kotcheff, director of First Blood and Weekend at Bernie’s, has sadly died at the age of 94.
TMZ confirmed that the filmmaker died peacefully Friday night at Hospital Joya in Nuevo Nayarit, Mexico.
It was reported that he was surrounded by his family when he died, and his cause of death was not disclosed.
The director was best known for his hit films in the 80s, in particular the film First Blood, which introduced the Sylvester Stallone character John Rambo and became a classic.
Kotcheff also worked on hilarious comedies, including the huge 1989 hit Weekend at Bernie’s starring Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman.
The director’s other well-known projects include the 1977 film Fun with Dick and Jane, North Dallas Forty in 1979, the1974 filmThe Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, and Wake in Fright in 1971.
Aside from his impressive movie career, Kotcheff also was an executive producer on 13 seasons of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, he also made a variety of TV movies.
The director’s career spanned decades (Picture: George Pimentel/WireImage)The director’s most impressive hit was First Blood, which was a box office smash with a budget of $16 million (£12.2 million) and grossed more than $125 million (£95.6 million) worldwide.
The first film focuses on a US Army Special Forces veteran, John Rambo, whose Vietnam War experience traumatized him but also gave him superior military skills, which uses to fight corrupt police officers, enemy troops and drug cartels.
Although the initial movie was a smash hit and spawned a franchise, Kotcheff decided not to return because of his issues with the morality of the script.
‘They offered me the first sequel, and after I read the script I said, “In the first film he doesn’t kill anybody. In this film he kills 75 people,”‘ he said in a 2016 interview with Filmmaker magazine.
‘It seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War, which I thought was one of the stupidest wars in history.’
‘Fifty-five thousand young Americans died, and so many veterans committed suicide. I couldn’t turn myself inside out like that and make that kind of picture.
‘Of course, I could have been a rich man today — that sequel made $300 million.’
The director had five children (Picture: Amanda Edwards/WireImage)The director was born in Toronto to Bulgarian immigrant parents and his full name was William Theodore Kotcheff.
Kotcheff married British actress Sylvia Kay in 1960 and they had three children before their 1972 divorce. Kay died in January 2019 at age 82.
Kotcheff went on to marry Laifun Chun, who became his producing partner on several projects. They had two children named Thomas and Alexandra.
The director is survived by his five children.
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