'On Golden Pond,' 'The Rose' Director Was 97
The Hollywood Reporter • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Mark Rydell, acclaimed director known for films like Cinderella Liberty, The Rose, and On Golden Pond, has died at age 97 from natural causes in Woodland Hills, California.
- Rydell received an Oscar nomination for directing Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, Fonda’s final film, which earned Fonda his only competitive Academy Award and co-star Katharine Hepburn her fourth.
- A former actor himself, Rydell appeared in the soap opera As the World Turns and films such as The Long Goodbye and Havana before transitioning to a successful directing career that included multiple Oscar-nominated performances.
- He began as a TV director before moving into feature films, with notable works including The Fox, The Reivers, The Cowboys, and The Rose, where he famously cast Bette Midler in a breakthrough role.
- Rydell also contributed to the acting community as an artistic director at The Actors Studio and continued directing into the 2000s; he is survived by his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
