On June 16th, director John G. Avildsen died of pancreatic cancer at age 81. If his name isn't familiar to you, it should be, because he only helped launch the two biggest underdog sports franchises in history- "Rocky" and "The Karate Kid". Every filmmaker secretly dreams of leaving a lasting mark on pop culture. Avildsen did it twice. Legend has it that he had no interest in boxing before he read the screenplay of a then-unknown Sylvester Stallone. Well, a year and a $117 million later, Stallone wasn't unknown anymore. "Rocky" became a sequel-spewing phenomenon with an increasingly-ripped(and rich) Sly at the helm. Avildsen won a well-deserved Best Director Oscar in 1976, and would return for the fifth installment in 1990. A similarly rousing project came across his desk in the intervening years. The saga of Daniel LaRusso spoke to every scrawny kid that wasn't 'cool' enough to date Elisabeth Shue. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita were among the most popular and profitable acts of the 1980s, and did more for martial arts than any Bruce Lee movie(yeah, I said it). As if that wasn't enough, Avildsen also furthered the careers of Jack Lemmon, Peter Boyle, Susan Sarandon, Burt Reynolds and Morgan Freeman during his thirty-year tenure behind the camera. The talent and heart that this underappreciated auteur brought to cinema are sorely missed.
Complete filmography(25 films in total, the highly successful ones are darkened)
"Turn on to Love"(1969)
"Guess What We Learned in School Today?"(1970)
"Joe"(1970)
"Cry Uncle!"(1971)
"Okay Bill"(1972)
"Save the Tiger"(1973)
"The Stoolie"(1974)
"Fore Play"(1975)
"W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings"(1975)
"Rocky"(1976)
"Slow Dancing in the Big City"(1978)
"The Formula"(1980)
"Neighbors"(1981)
"Traveling Hopefully"(1982)
"A Night in Heaven"(1983)
"The Karate Kid"(1984)
"The Karate Kid Part II"(1986)
"Happy New Year"(1987)
"For Keeps"(1988)
"Lean on Me"(1989)
"The Karate Kid Part III"(1989)
"Rocky V"(1990)
"The Power of One"(1992)
"8 Seconds"(1994)
"Inferno"(1999)
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