US filmmaker Sidney Lumet dead at 86—report

NEW YORK—Sidney Lumet, who directed classic American Oscar-winning films “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Network” in a career spanning half a century, died Saturday at age 86, The New York Times reported.

Stepdaughter Leslie Gimbel said Lumet died of the cancer lymphoma, the Times reported.

Lumet was seen as one of the most significant directors in American cinema, making more than 40 movies with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, and while nominated five times for an Academy Award he never personally won one.

He burst onto the scene in 1957 with “12 Angry Men,” the courtroom drama starring Henry Fonda as a juror who slowly convinces his peers that the person on trial for murder is innocent.

Lumet turned his lens on the gritty streets of his beloved New York, notably in “Serpico” and “Dog Day Afternoon,” two 1970s gems starring Al Pacino which became classics of the crime drama genre.

But he may be best remembered for “Network,” the poignant satire on American media depicting a frustrated television anchor man struggling to resuscitate a flagging career.

The 1976 film was nominated for 10 Oscars, and won four, including best actor (Peter Finch), best actress (Faye Dunaway) and best screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), but not for best director.

Ultimately Lumet was presented with an honorary Academy Award, in 2005.

“If you prayed to inhabit a character, Sidney was the priest who listened to your prayers and helped them come true,” Pacino said when he handed the statuette to Lumet.

It was presented in recognition of what the Academy dubbed Lumet’s “brilliant services to screenwriters, performers and the art of the motion picture.”

“I’ve got the best job in the best profession in the world,” Lumet said upon accepting the award, thanking those “who’ve paid more dues than I have.”