On Saturday morning, acclaimed film director Sidney Lumet (’12 Angry Men’, ‘Dog Day Afternoon’, ‘Network’), The New York Times confirms, passed away from lymphoma at his home in Manhattan, New York.
Lumet’s career spanned over 60 years from his beginnings in Off-Broadway theatre and in television where he worked as director on CBS’s ‘Danger’, ‘Mama’ and ‘You Are There’. He developed a “lightning quick” method for shooting due to the high turnover required by television that got him recognised within the industry and due to his ability to work quickly while shooting, this carried over to his film career. The quality of many of the television dramas was so impressive, several of them were later adapted as motion pictures.
His filmography starts in 1957 with ’12 Angry Men’ starring Henry Fonda which was nominated for three Academy Awards but unfortunately lost out to ‘The Bridge of the River Kwai’. Other highlights of his career include 1975 drama film ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ starring Al Pacino, 1976 satirical drama ‘Network’ starring Peter Finch (the first and only till Heath Ledger, posthumous Academy Award winner for Best Male) and Faye Dunaway and his final picture, ‘Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead’ – the 2007 crime drama starring Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Although Lumet was nominated for five Oscars, he never won one until 2005 when he was awarded the ‘Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement’.
His wife, stepdaughter Leslie Gimbel, stepson Bailey Gimble and daughters Amy Lumet and Jenny Lumet as well as nine grandchildren and a great grandson survive him.
