Milos Forman(1932-2018)

Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in Mittelbau-Dora, a sub camp of Buchenwald, and his mother died in Auschwitz, at which Milos became an orphan very early on. He studied screen-writing at the Prague Film Academy (F.A.M.U.). In his Czechoslovakian films,Cherný Petr (1964),Lásky jedné plavovlásky (1965),andHorzhí, má panenko (1967),he created his own style of comedy. During the invasion of his country by the troops of the Warsaw pact in the summer of 1968, to stop the Prague spring, he left Europe for the United States. In spite of difficulties, he filmedTaking Off (1971)there and achieved his fame later withOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)adapted from the novel ofKen Kesey,which won five Oscars, including one for best direction. Other important films of Milos Forman were the musicalHair (1979)and his biography ofWolfgang Amadeus Mozart,Amadeus (1984),which won eight Oscars.