Oscar-nominated 'On Golden Pond' Director Mark Rydell Dies at 97

Oscar nominated 'On Golden Pond' director Mark Rydell passes away at 97

Washington DC, August 14

The actor Bette Midler announced the demise of the director on his Instagram handle today. He paid tribute to the filmmaker by remembering his first movie 'Rose.'

"Mark Rydell, the director or my first film, The Rose, died this morning. He was an actor of note before he became a director, and I was so lucky to have met him when I did; he taught me so much on The Rose and later on For The Boys. Two Oscars nominations both because of him. He was the actor's whisperer; just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed," wrote Bette Midler.

He starting his directing career in television before graduating to film in the late '60s with an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's "The Fox."

As a director, he elicited strong performances from his actors, guiding Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn to Oscars and Jane Fonda to a supporting actress nomination for "On Golden Pond" in 1981. He had previously worked similar magic for Midler in her screen debut, "The Rose" (and later in her career in "For the Boys"); Marsha Mason in "Cinderella Liberty"; Sissy Spacek in "The River"; and African-American actor Rupert Crosse, who drew a supporting nom for 1969's "The Reivers."

His greatest screen success was "On Golden Pond," adapted from Ernest Thompson's stage drama about family relationships. It was nominated for best picture and brought Rydell a directing nom. The seriously ill Henry Fonda won an Oscar in what would be his last starring role -- and his only co-starring role with daughter Jane, who was also nominated. Hepburn won an unprecedented fourth acting Oscar for her work, and Thompson won for adapting his work to the screen, reported Variety.

According to Variety, Mortimer H. Rydell was born in New York and attended the Juilliard School of Music, training as an actor both at the Neighborhood Playhouse and at the Actors Studio. In the 1950s, he appeared on Broadway while working as a jazz pianist to earn extra money.

For six years, he starred in "As the World Turns" before his character was killed off. He also worked as an actor in television in episodes of such series as "Wanted: Dead or Alive" before moving into direction for TV and then for the big screen.

— ANI