Milos Forman, director of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, dies at 86

Milos Forman, the Oscar-winning director of the films One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus, has died. He was 86.

The Czech-born director died in the U.S. after a brief illness, his wife, Martina, told Czech news agency CTK, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Considered one of the pioneers of the Czechoslovak New Wave, Forman left his home country in 1968 after his films, particularly The Fireman’s Ball, got in trouble with the administration. He became a U.S. citizen in 1977.

His first American film was Taking Off in 1971 and he followed it up with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, which became the second film to win five Oscars — picture, director, actor, actress and adapted screenplay.

Starring Jack Nicholson, the film was an adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel of the same name.

Forman’s Amadeus, a fictionalised biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also swept the Oscars, fetching him his second best director trophy apart from registering seven other wins at the 57th Academy Awards.

His other notable films include Hair (1979), Ragtime (1981) and Valmont (1989).

He received his last best director Oscar nod for the 1996 film The People Vs Larry Flynt.