Ted Kotcheff, best known for directing First Blood and Weekend at Bernie’s, has died at 94

It’s sad news today. Ted Kotcheff, the Canadian filmmaker who directed First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s, and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, has died at the age of 94.

Kotcheff got his start working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the youngest director on staff. However, he was briefly jailed and branded a communist after his first visit to the United States, which led to his leaving to work in London. He memorably helmed Underground, an episode of Armchair Theatre in which one of his principal actors actually died in the middle of the live shoot. He scrambled to re-structure the story during the commercial break while the other actors improvised, unaware that their fellow cast member had just passed away.

When Kotcheff returned to Canada, he helmed The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which starred Richard Dreyfuss as a brash young Jewish Montrealer who embarks on a string of get-rich-quick schemes to gain respect. The film is regarded as one of Canada’s best movies.

Of course, Kotcheff is best known for directing First Blood, the first installment of Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo franchise. The film was a huge success, but Kotcheff didn’t want to return for any of the sequels, which he felt were a complete departure from the first movie. “They offered me the first sequel, and after I read the script I said, ‘In the first film he doesn’t kill anybody. In this film he kills 75 people,’” Kotcheff said in a 2016 interview. “It seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War, which I thought was one of the stupidest wars in history. Fifty-five-thousand young Americans died and so many veterans committed suicide. I couldn’t turn myself inside out like that and make that kind of picture. Of course, I could have been a rich man today — that sequel made $300 million.“

Kotcheff is also known for directing Weekend at Bernie’s, as well as Wake in Fright, Billy Two Hats, Fun with Dick and Jane, Split Image, Uncommon Valor, Switching Channels, and more.

He later made the leap back to television, where he collaborated with Dick Wolf on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Wolf was interested in exploring the psychology behind sex crimes, and Kotcheff served as an executive producer on the series for thirteen years. “What connection Dick found between the existential problems of a pro football player and a Jewish hustler trying to become someone and sex crimes in New York City, I didn’t have the foggiest idea,” Kotcheff wrote in his memoir. “But I wasn’t about to complain.“

Our thoughts and condolences go out to Kotcheff’s family and friends.

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