Alvin Rakoff, a Canadian film director who helped launch the careers of actors Sean Connery and Alan Rickman, has died. He was 97 years old.
The legendary director passed away surrounded by his family at his home in Chiswick, London, on October 12, his longtime publicist Nick Plugrides confirmed to PEOPLE.
During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Rakoff has worked as a writer, director, and producer on more than 100 television, film, and stage productions. He also wrote three novels. His most famous works include The Voyage of My Father, 1978’s Romeo and Juliet, and Waiting for Gillian.
Rakoff began his career as a writer with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), emigrating to the UK in 1952 and becoming the youngest producer and director of BBC Drama at the age of 26.
By 1967, Rakoff won his first Emmy Award for Call Me Daddy, and his second in 1982 for A Voyage Round My Father.
June 1, 1954, TV writer Ian McCormick and director Alvin Lakoff.
Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty
Most notably, the late director was known for launching the careers of many famous actors, including Connery and Rickman. In 1957, Rakoff seized the opportunity to appear as an unknown extra and gave Connery his first lead role in Requiem for a Heavyweight.
A few years later, Rakoff received a call from a producer who was casting him for the role of James Bond, according to his obituary in PEOPLE. Patrick McGoohan, Roger Moore, and Connery were all chosen for the coveted role, and Lakoff told producers that “McGoohan was the best actor and Moore was the most affable, but casting It was Connery that he felt should be done.”
A few years later, in 1978, he would give Rickman his first major role as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.
Following the news of his death, those who loved and worked with Rakoff gave touching tributes to their time with the legendary director in their eulogies.
“I have wonderful memories of Alvin, both of being directed by him and of meeting him at The Mill. A very lovely man,” Dame Judi Dench wrote.
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Michael Crawford said, “Alvin was a beautiful and sensitive director. I feel very lucky to have worked with him. He has had a well-deserved great career.”
“Alvin Rakoff was a giant in film, theater and television. His Midasian touch in discovering and nurturing talent introduced the world to some of the greatest stars of the last century. Typically, he worked on scripts until the end. “I was working on it,” Stephen Fry added. .
