LAST DANCE

Bernardo Bertolucci, ‘Last Tango in Paris’ Director, Dies at 77

Won Best Director Oscar for “The Last Emperor.”

Bernardo Bertolucci—the Oscar-winning Italian director of movies such as Last Tango in Paris, The Last Emperor, and The Dreamers—has died in Rome at the age of 77. In 1987, The Last Emperor won nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. His final feature, Me and You, had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. But Last Tango in Paris, starring Marlon Brando as an American businessman who begins a relationship with a young Frenchwoman, is perhaps his most famous work and was banned in several countries for its sexual content. Bertolucci had been confined to a wheelchair for over a decade after surgery on a herniated disc in 2003 was unsuccessful, and rendered him unable to walk. His publicist confirmed he died of cancer after a short illness.