Director Michael Apted (1941-2021)

[ClassicsFan]

Michael Apted, the versatile British filmmaker who directed "Coal Miner's Daughter" and the inventive "Up" documentaries, has died at the age of 79, He would have observed his 80th birthday next month.

Apted's "Up" series of films focused on a group of Britishers from the time they were 7-year-old schoolchildren in the 1960s. His last installment, "63 Up," was released in 2019.

 

[ClassicsFan]

Sissy Spacek's Academy Award-winning performance in "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980) -- the story of country singer Loretta Lynn -- helped set the tone for future portrayals of music greats. Spacek did her own singing for the film, just as Gary Busey had done for his Oscar-nominated performance in "The Buddy Holly Story" two years earlier.