John G. Avildsen

John Guilbert Avildsen (December 21, 1935 – June 16, 2017) was an American film director. He is best known for directing Rocky, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director. He is also known for directing the first three films in The Karate Kid franchise (1984–1989). Other films he directed include Joe (1970), Save the Tiger (1973), The Formula (1980), Neighbors (1981), Lean on Me (1989), Rocky V (1990), 8 Seconds (1994), and Inferno (1999).

Early life John G. Avildsen was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Ivy (née Guilbert) and Clarence John Avildsen. He was educated at Indian Mountain School, the Hotchkiss School and at New York University.

Career After starting out as an assistant director on films by Arthur Penn and Otto Preminger and acting as director of photography on the 1969 film, Out of It, Avildsen's early low-budget feature Joe (1970) received good notices for star Peter Boyle and was a big box-office hit grossing nearly $20 million on a $100,000 budget. Avildsen followed this early success with the low-budget 1971 cult classic comedy film Cry Uncle! (released in the UK as Superdick and on video as American Oddballs), a 1971 American film in the Troma Entertainment library that stars Allen Garfield. This was followed by Save the Tiger (1973), a film nominated for three Academy Awards, winning Best Actor for star Jack Lemmon at the 55th Academy Awards.

Avildsen's greatest success came with Rocky (1976), which he directed working in conjunction with writer and star Sylvester Stallone. The film was a major critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976 and garnering ten Academy Award nominations and winning three, including Best Picture and Best Director for Avildsen at the 49th Academy Awards. He later returned to direct what was then expected to be the series' final installment, Rocky V (1990).

Avildsen directed the mystery-drama The Formula (1980), starring Marlon Brando and George C. Scott, for which he was nominated for Razzie Award for Worst Director at the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards. Avildsen's other films include Neighbors (1981), For Keeps (1988), Lean on Me (1989), The Power of One (1992), 8 Seconds (1994), and the first three The Karate Kid films.

Avildsen was the original director for both Serpico (1973) and Saturday Night Fever (1977), but was fired over disputes with, respectively, producers Martin Bregman and Robert Stigwood. Although his job directing Serpico was terminated, Avildsen became long time friends with the film's real life subject Frank Serpico, even sharing a property with him on Long Island, New York during the early 1980s. His last film was Inferno (1999), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.

A documentary on the life, career and films of Avildsen was released in August 2017, approximately two months after his death. John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs (2017), directed and produced by Derek Wayne Johnson, features interviews with Sylvester Stallone, Ralph Macchio, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Weintraub, and Burt Reynolds, among others. The documentary is a companion to the book The Films of John G. Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid, and other Underdogs, written by Larry Powell and Tom Garrett.

In the 2026 movie I Play Rocky directed by Peter Farrelly, which is about the development process of Rocky, Avildsen is played by Jay Duplass.

Personal life Avildsen's first wife was Marie Olga Maturevich (Melissa McCall); they had two children, Anthony and Jonathan, before divorcing. Jonathan Avildsen appeared in the films The Karate Kid Part III, Inferno and Rocky V.

Avildsen had a son with Myroslawa Prystay: Ash Avildsen (born November 5, 1981), who founded Sumerian Records. Ash later became estranged from his father; he has a son, Izzy Avildsen.

Avildsen married actress Tracy Brooks Swope in 1987; they separated in 2006. They had a daughter, Bridget.

Death John Avildsen died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on June 16, 2017. He was 81. The cause of his death was pancreatic cancer, according to his son Anthony Avildsen.

Filmography Year Film Notes 1969 Turn On to Love 1970 Guess What We Learned in School Today? Joe Also cinematographer 1971 Cry Uncle! 1971 Okay Bill 1972 The Stoolie 1973 Save the Tiger 1975 Fore Play W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings 1976 Rocky Academy Award for Best DirectorDirectors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature FilmNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best DirectorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Direction 1978 Slow Dancing in the Big City 1980 The Formula Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Director 1981 Neighbors 1982 Traveling Hopefully Nominated—Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject 1983 A Night in Heaven 1984 The Karate Kid 1986 The Karate Kid Part II 1987 Happy New Year 1988 For Keeps 1989 Lean on Me The Karate Kid Part III Nominated—Razzie Award for Worst Director 1990 Rocky V 1992 The Power of One 1994 8 Seconds 1999 Inferno Final film

Awards and nominations received by Avildsen's films

Directed Academy Award Performances

Under Avildsen's direction, these actors have receive Oscar nominations and win for their performances in these respective roles.