- Best Foreign Language Film Loves of a Blonde 1967
Biography
Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (/ˈmiːloʊʃ/; Czech: [ˈmɪloʃ ˈforman]; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968.
Forman was an important figure of the Czechoslovak New Wave. Film critics and Czechoslovak authorities viewed his 1967 film The Firemen's Ball as a biting satire on Eastern European communism. Initially the film was shown in cinemas in his home country in the more reformist atmosphere of the Prague Spring. However, it was later banned by the communist government after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. Forman was subsequently forced to leave Czechoslovakia and move to the United States, where he continued to make films, achieving broader critical and commercial success. In 1975 he directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) with Jack Nicholson as a psychiatric hospital patient. The film received widespread acclaim and became the second in history to win all five major Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
In 1978 he directed the anti-war musical Hair, which premiered at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. In 1981 he directed the turn-of-the-century drama Ragtime, known for its large ensemble cast. The film received 8 Academy Award nominations. His next feature was the historical biographical drama Amadeus (1984) about the life of the famous classical musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, starring Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham. The film was both a critical and commercial success, receiving 11 nominations and 8 wins, including Best Picture, as well as another win for Forman as Best Director. In 1996 Forman received another Academy Award nomination for Best Director for The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996).
Over his career Forman received 2 Academy Awards, 3 Golden Globe Awards, the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, a BAFTA Award, a César Award, a David di Donatello Award, and a Czech Lion Award.
Filmography
2No films in this section.
Awards & recognition
1 wins · 5 nominations · 4 Award ceremony
- Best Screenplay Taking Off 1972
- Best Director Taking Off 1972
- Jury Grand Prix Taking Off 1971
- Palme d'Or Taking Off 1971
- Golden Lion Loves of a Blonde 1965
Interesting facts
15- 1
In 1975 Forman became an American citizen, and in the same year he was appointed full professor and one of the directors of the film faculty at Columbia University.
- 2
The son of a Jewish professor of pedagogy and a Protestant wife, he lost his parents in Nazi concentration camps and was raised by relatives.
- 3
In 1948 he lived in Mukachevo and studied at the All-Union Institute of Cinematography in Moscow.
- 4
After emigrating to the United States, for four years Miloš Forman, on principle, did not make a single film — he was not satisfied with the quality of the scripts Hollywood sent him. All that time, according to him, he lived on a dollar and a half a day (a hamburger and a cola).
- 5
In 1975 Forman became an American citizen, and in that same year he was appointed a full professor and one of the directors of the film department at Columbia University.
- 6
Real name: Jan Tomáš Forman.
- 7
Forman was in Paris in August 1968 looking for a possible film project when Soviet tanks invaded his homeland. He stayed in France and in 1969 came to New York with his friend, the director Ivan Passer.
- 8
Forman was in Paris in August 1968 looking for a possible film project when Soviet tanks invaded his homeland. He stayed in France and in 1969 came to New York with his friend, the director Ivan Passer.
- 9
He graduated from the Film Faculty of the Prague FAMU — the Academy of Arts.
- 10
In 1948 he lived in Mukachevo and studied at the All-Union Institute of Cinematography in Moscow.
- 11
His real name is Jan Tomáš Forman.
- 12
His parents died in Nazi concentration camps.
- 13
In 1998, Miloš had twins Andrew and James. He named them after Andy Kaufman (a famous American comedian, about whom the director made the film 'Man on the Moon') and Jim Carrey (who played the comedian himself in the same film).
- 14
In 1998, Miloš had twins Andrew and James. He named them after Andy Kaufman and Jim Carrey.
- 15
Miloš is a graduate of the film faculty of Prague's FAMU — the Academy of Arts.
Family & relationships
Vera Kresadlova
spouse · Children: 2 · divorced
Jana Brejchová
wife · divorced
Martina Zbořilová
wife · Children: 2
Pavel Forman
wife
Frequent collaborators
6
Photos
9
