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US Oscar-winner dies

January 5, 2014

Saul Zaentz, US film producer and winner of several best picture Oscars, has died in San Francisco. Among his best-known films are "Amadeus" and "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest."

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Producer Saul Zaentz arrives at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Inaugural Governors Awards held at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 14, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Image: Getty Images

Zaentz died on Friday owing to complications from Alzheimer's disease at his home in San Francisco, aged 92, US media reported on Saturday (04.01.2014).

Zaentz won three best picture Oscars in all: in 1976 for "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Amadeus" in 1985, and "The English Patient" in 1997. He also made an animated version of "The Lord of the Rings" in 1978.

Earlier in his career, Zaentz made a fortune with his Fantasy Records label, which included the rock group Creedence Clearwater Revival among its musicians.

He also co-produced the films "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988), "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" (1991), and "Goya's Ghosts" (2006).

tj/bk (dpa, AFP)