He was 97.
LOS ANGELES — Mark Rydell, the Oscar-nominated director of the sentimental blockbuster “On Golden Pond” who worked with such Hollywood heavyweights as Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Steve McQueen and John Wayne, has died.
It earned over $119 million at the box office, making it the second-highest grossing film of 1981 behind “Raiders of the Lost Ark. The elder Fonda died at age 77 months after winning his only Oscar. Born Mortimer Harold Rydell on March 23, 1929, in New York City, he studied with jazz pianist Teddy Wilson at the Julliard School of Music. Rydell and Sydney Pollack, who became friends during their acting days, formed Sanford Productions in 1971. In 2009, Rydell, Oscar-winning actor Martin Landau and screenwriter Lyle Kessler taught a film workshop at UCLA.
Henry Fonda and Hepburn won leading acting honors and the film won for screenplay, which Ernest Thompson adapted from his play of the same name. Rydell was nominated for directing but lost to Warren Beatty for “Reds. He starred as Norman Thayer, an emotionally brittle and distant father who becomes more accessible at the end of his life after his teenage grandson spends the summer with him and his wife, Ethel , at their cottage in New England. During a stint in the Army, he spent two years in Japan developing entertainment for military personnel. He majored in English and philosophy at New York University. Rydell also appeared in the movie as Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner. Rydell and Landau were co-artistic directors of The Actors Studio West, teaching and coaching actors, writers and directors.
“On Golden Pond,” which teamed Fonda with Hepburn and his daughter, Jane Fonda, was nominated for 10 Oscars. “On Golden Pond” was Henry Fonda’s final movie role. The film’s story resembled Fonda’s real-life relationship with daughter Jane, who said working on the movie together helped resolve some of their issues. Among their efforts were the films “Jeremiah Johnson” starring Robert Redford and “Scarecrow” with Al Pacino and Gene Hackman, which won the Cannes Film Festival’s top honor, the Palme d’Or. Among his TV movie directing credits were “McBride and Groom,” “Crime of the Century” with Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea, and “James Dean,” which earned actor James Franco a Golden Globe award.
