Chaplin
Better off silent
VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) -- Director George P. Cosmatos, best known for box-office hits "Rambo" and "Tombstone," died last week. He was 64.
Cosmatos had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, his friend and fellow director Richard Donner said Saturday.
"George was just a wonderful, bigger-than-life character," Donner said. "You never forgot his entrance and hoped there would never be an exit."
Known for an ability to fix troubled projects and create blockbuster films, he delivered what many consider his finest achievement in 1993 -- "Tombstone," the film about legendary American lawman Wyatt Earp starring Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell.
Cosmatos dismissed criticism of violence in "Rambo," the 1985 film about a U.S. combat veteran who returns to Vietnam on a one-man mission to rescue soldiers missing-in-action.
"What's with these prejudiced people? They're for censorship, not a free society," Cosmatos said. "It's a psychological release for people to have a hero who can do the fighting and dirty work while we eat our popcorn."
Born in Florence, Italy and raised in Egypt and Cyprus, Cosmatos spoke six languages and was an avid bibliophile with a passion for cigars and film restoration.
Cosmatos had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, his friend and fellow director Richard Donner said Saturday.
"George was just a wonderful, bigger-than-life character," Donner said. "You never forgot his entrance and hoped there would never be an exit."
Known for an ability to fix troubled projects and create blockbuster films, he delivered what many consider his finest achievement in 1993 -- "Tombstone," the film about legendary American lawman Wyatt Earp starring Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell.
Cosmatos dismissed criticism of violence in "Rambo," the 1985 film about a U.S. combat veteran who returns to Vietnam on a one-man mission to rescue soldiers missing-in-action.
"What's with these prejudiced people? They're for censorship, not a free society," Cosmatos said. "It's a psychological release for people to have a hero who can do the fighting and dirty work while we eat our popcorn."
Born in Florence, Italy and raised in Egypt and Cyprus, Cosmatos spoke six languages and was an avid bibliophile with a passion for cigars and film restoration.
