MOSCOW (AP) β Film director Eldar Ryazanov, who satirized and romanticized the life of ordinary Russians in his immensely popular comedies for almost six decades, has died. He was 88.
Russian film industry group Kinosoyuz said in a statement that Ryazanov died in hospital early Monday. Russian news agencies quoted his family members, saying that the film director died of heart failure.
Once compared to U.S. director Billy Wilder for his artistic diversity and longevity, Ryazanov directed almost 30 films, most of which became box-office hits and spawned countless Russian catchphrases and popular jokes.
His films ridiculed Soviet bureaucracy and lifestyle, but the lightness of his satires helped him dodge Communist censorship.
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This story has been corrected to say the cause of death was heart failure, not stroke.
