Ivan Passer (10 July 1933 – 9 January 2020) was a Czech

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, best known for his involvement in the Czechoslovak New Wave and for directing American films such as ''

Born to Win ''Born to Win'' is a 1971 black comedy crime drama film directed by Ivan Passer and starring George Segal, Karen Black, Paula Prentiss, Hector Elizondo, Jay Fletcher and Robert De Niro. Filming locations took place in Manhattan, specifically Tim ...

'' (1971), '' Cutter's Way'' (1981) and ''

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

'' (1992).

Life and career

Passer was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, the son of Marianna (Mandelick) and Alois Passer. Passer attended King George boarding school in

Poděbrady Poděbrady (; german: Podiebrad) is a spa town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Elbe. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

with future filmmakers

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

Jerzy Skolimowski Jerzy Skolimowski (, born 5 May 1938) is a Polish film director, screenwriter, dramatist and actor. A graduate of the prestigious National Film School in Łódź, Skolimowski has directed more than twenty films since his 1960 début ''Oko wyk ...

and Paul Fierlinger and playwright

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

. He then studied at FAMU in Prague, but did not finish the program. He began his career as an assistant director on

Ladislav Helge Ladislav Helge (21 August 1927 – 31 January 2016) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He directed 7 films between 1957 and 1967, including '' Škola otců'' (1957). He also wrote screenplays for 5 films. He started as an assistant ...

's ''Velká samota''. Later he collaborated with his friend Forman on all of Forman's Czech films, including ''

Loves of a Blonde ''Loves of a Blonde'' ( cs, Lásky jedné plavovlásky), also known as ''A Blonde in Love'', is a 1965 Czechoslovak comedy-drama film directed by Miloš Forman that follows a young woman, Andula, who has a routine job in a shoe factory in provinci ...

'' (1965) and ''

The Firemen's Ball ''The Firemen's Ball'' (or ''The Fireman's Ball''; cs, Hoří, má panenko - "Fire, my lady") is a 1967 comedy film directed by Miloš Forman. It is set at the annual ball of a small town's volunteer fire department, and the plot portrays a se ...

'' (1967), both of which Passer co-wrote and which were nominated for

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. He introduced Forman to cinematographer

Miroslav Ondříček Miroslav Ondříček (4 November 1934 – 28 March 2015) was a Czech cinematographer who worked on over 40 films, including '' Amadeus'', ''Ragtime'' and '' If....''. Life and career Miroslav Ondříček was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now ...

whom he knew from ''Velká samota''. He then directed his first feature, '' Intimate Lighting'', which was released in 1965 and is considered by some to be Passer's masterpiece. In 1969, after the Warsaw Pact invasion, Passer and Forman left

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

together. Both proceeded to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, with Forman becoming an Academy Award-winning filmmaker. Passer went on to make several prominent American films such as ''

'' (1971), a junkie drama starring

George Segal George Segal Jr. (February 13, 1934 – March 23, 2021) was an American actor. He became popular in the 1960s and 1970s for playing both dramatic and comedic roles. After first rising to prominence with roles in acclaimed films such as ''Ship o ...

and Karen Black, and '' Cutter's Way'' (1981), a dramatic thriller starring

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

and John Heard. Though best known for his idiosyncratic, often gritty dramas, he also directed comedies such as ''

Silver Bears ''Silver Bears'' is a 1978 British comedy crime thriller film based on a novel by Paul Erdman, directed by Ivan Passer and starring Michael Caine, Cybill Shepherd, Louis Jourdan and Joss Ackland. Caine portrays mob accountant "Doc" Fletcher ...

'' (1978) starring

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

and '' Creator'' (1985) starring

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old V ...

. Later in his career, he directed numerous films for television, most notably the award-winning biopic ''

'' (1992) starring

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

for HBO. He was also a film professor at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. Passer died on January 9, 2020 from pulmonary complications in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

. He was 86 years old.

Filmography

*''Audition'' (1963) (co-writer only, with

Jaroslav Papoušek Jaroslav Papoušek (19 February 1920 – 16 July 1996) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He started as a sculptor, before writing screenplays with Miloš Forman and Ivan Passer. In 1968 he started directing his own screenplays. Sele ...

and Václav Šašek) *'' Intimate Lighting'' (1965) (also co-writer, with Jaroslav Papoušek and Václav Šašek) *''

'' (1965) (co-writer only, with Miloš Forman, Jaroslav Papoušek and Václav Šašek) *''

'' (1967) (co-writer only, with Miloš Forman, Jaroslav Papoušek and Václav Šašek) *''

'' (1971) (also co-writer, with David Scott Milton) *'' Law and Disorder'' (1974) (also co-writer, with Kenneth Harris Fishman and

William Richert William Richert (1942 – July 19, 2022) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He is known for writing and directing the feature films '' Winter Kills'', ''The American Success Company'', and ''A Night in the Life of ...

) *''

Crime and Passion ''Crime and Passion'', also known as ''Ace Up My Sleeve'', is a 1975 comedy drama film.Ebert, Roger (May 4, 1976)''Crime and Passion''.RogerEbert.com. Plot André Ferren learns from his girlfriend and co-worker Susan Winters that the biggest clien ...

'' (1976) (also co-writer, with William Richert) *''

'' (1977) *'' Cutter's Way'' (1981) *''

Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre (also known as Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre) is an American live-action fairytale fantasy drama anthology television series of 27 episodes, that originally aired on Showtime from September 11, 1982 until November 14, ...

'' (1983) (director of episode "The Nightingale") *'' Creator'' (1985) *'' Haunted Summer'' (1988) *'' Fourth Story'' (1990) *''

'' (1992) *'' While Justice Sleeps'' (1994) *''

Kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Cam ...

'' (1995) *'' The Wishing Tree'' (1999) *''

Picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors ( ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event such as preceding ...

'' (2000) *'' Velvet Hangover'' (2000) *'' Nomad: The Warrior'' (2006)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passer, Ivan 1933 births 2020 deaths Czechoslovak defectors Czechoslovak film directors Film directors from Prague Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States Respiratory disease deaths in Nevada Deaths from lung disease