‘Deer Hunter’ director Michael Cimino dies

Oscar-winning director Michael Cimino, whose film The Deer Hunter became one of the great triumphs of Hollywood’s 1970s heyday and whose disastrous Heaven’s Gate helped bring that era to a close, has died.

Los Angeles County acting coroner’s lieutenant B Kim said Cimino, aged 77, died on Saturday. He had been living in Beverly Hills.

Cimino had his directorial breakthrough in 1978 with his second film, The Deer Hunter, the story of the Vietnam War’s effect on a small steel-working town in Pennsylvania. The film won five Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Cimino.