John Irvin, director of 'The Spy Who Knew Too Much', dies at 86

John Irvin, director of 'The Spy Who Knew Too Much', dies at the age of 86 TIZIANA FABI / AFP British director John Irvin, known for his film "Hamburger Hill" and the series "The Spy Who Knew Too Much", has died at the age of 86, the international press reported this Wednesday (19). John Irvin, a widower since 1991 and father of three, died "peacefully at home" on August 11, surrounded by his family, his producer, Claire Evans, confirmed to the British newspaper The Guardian. The American magazine Variety also reported his death, citing the filmmaker's producers. Nominated three times for the Bafta, the British film award, John Irvin directed more than thirty films and series over a career spanning more than five decades, in which he made documentaries for television and also worked in Hollywood cinema. Irvin, who was born on May 7, 1940 in Newcastle, northeast England, studied at the London Film School and began his career in the 1960s directing documentaries, including "Inheritance (1963)", about the Algerian war. In the 1970s, Irvin moved to television, directing, for example, in 1979, for the BBC, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", a seven-episode adaptation of John le Carré's novel. The series won several Bafta awards and received an Emmy nomination. John Irvin continued his film career, especially in Hollywood. In the 1980s, he directed "Ghost Story", starring Fred Astaire, and then "Hamburger Hill", released in 1987 and centered on a battle in the Vietnam War.