Milos Forman, R.I.P.

Director Milos Forman has passed away following a brief illness. He was 86.

Born in Czechoslovakia, Forman witnessed firsthand the evils of both Nazism and Communism. His parents were killed at Auschwitz rendering him an orphan. He was no more impressed with Communism as demonstrated by his first significant film The Firemen's Ball which was banned in Russia, Czechoslovakia and the Eastern Bloc. Active in the Prague Spring of 1968 and friends with the likes of future Czech President Vaclav Havel, Forman fled Czechoslovakia after Soviet tanks rolled in.

Forman only directed 20 movies, but are unsurpassed in quality - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Hair, Ragtime, Amadeus, The People Vs. Larry Flynt and Man on The Moon. Two of those films - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus won the Oscar for Best Picture when that meant something. Forman would win Best Director for both those films. Here is Forman accepting his Oscar for Amadeus at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985. R.I.P.