Five decades made up Petersen’s extensive career.
Wolfgang Petersen, a German director, passed away at the age of 81.
The legendary director of films like Das Boot and Air Force One passed away from pancreatic cancer in his Brentwood, Los Angeles, home.
He directed a number of famous films throughout the course of a five-decade career, including The NeverEnding Story, The Perfect Storm, and Troy. He collaborated with actors like Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, and Brad Pitt.
According to Glenn Close, who co-starred with Ford in Air Force One, working with Petersen is still a “wonderful memory.”
“Despite how exciting and serious the writing was, I recall many laughs, especially in the sequences centered around the enormous table in the War Room. I had an image of a man who was joyfully engaged in his favorite activity.
With the psychological suspense film One or the Other of Us, Petersen makes his theatrical debut. His first significant breakthrough, however, came with the 1983 West German war film Das Boot, for which he received two Oscar nods.
His first English-language movie, The NeverEnding Story, received positive reviews upon its 1984 release and continues to be a beloved children’s favorite because to that famous horse scene.
Petersen eventually ventured into Hollywood action movies, collaborating with Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich on the 1993 film In the Line of Fire. Outbreak and Air Force One came after this, and then he took a detour into catastrophe films with The Perfect Storm and then Poseidon.
The Perfect Storm actor Diane Lane told Deadline, “My heart is sad tonight. “Wolfgang had a huge, compassionate soul. A natural leader who inspires others positively, I’d even venture to say that he served as a spiritual conduit for us, bringing us all to new heights and lowering us to new lows by grounding truly profound tales. I literally became a better actor just by being around him. I send his family my warmest condolences and love.
Ursula Sieg, a German actress, and Petersen were married for the first time in 1970; they divorced in 1978. Then he wed Maria-Antoinette Borgel, a German assistant director and script supervisor.
His wife, son Daniel Petersen, and two grandchildren remain.