Oscar-nominated 'On Golden Pond' director Mark Rydell dies at 97

Death and confirmation

Mark Rydell, the Oscar-nominated director of "On Golden Pond" and "The Rose," died at age 97. His daughter Amy Rydell confirmed the death to the Hollywood Reporter, stating he died of natural causes at a film-industry facility in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Focus magazine cites the date as August 13, while Bette Midler announced the death on Instagram on Friday, August 14, writing that he had died "this morning." His niece, actress Maggie Wagner, also confirmed the death through the Actors Studio West in Los Angeles, an institution Rydell co-founded.

From actor to director

Born in New York in 1929, Rydell initially studied music before training as an actor at the Actors Studio under the legendary teacher Sanford Meisner. He appeared on the soap opera "As the World Turns" in the 1950s and made his feature debut as a juvenile delinquent in the 1956 drama "Crime in the Streets." He also appeared on Broadway in "Seagulls Over Sorrento," "Handful of Fire," and "Moonbirds." He crossed behind the camera by the early 1960s, directing television before his first film, an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's "The Fox," in 1967.

A director who drew out performances

Rydell's gift lay in eliciting performances that earned Academy recognition. Over his career he directed eight actors to Oscar nominations: Rupert Crosse ("The Reivers," 1969), Marsha Mason ("Cinderella Liberty," 1973), Bette Midler ("The Rose," 1979, and "For the Boys," 1991), Jane Fonda, Henry Fonda, and Katharine Hepburn ("On Golden Pond," 1981), Sissy Spacek ("The River," 1984), and Frederic Forrest. "The Rose" marked Midler's screen debut, portraying the rise and fall of rock and blues singer Janis Joplin, and earned Midler an Oscar nomination on her first film role.

"On Golden Pond" and beyond

His greatest success came with "On Golden Pond" (1981), adapted from Ernest Thompson's stage drama about family relationships. The film was nominated for best picture and earned Rydell a best director nomination. Henry Fonda, seriously ill at the time, won the Oscar for what would be his last starring role, his only film co-starring with daughter Jane Fonda, who was also nominated for supporting actress. Hepburn won her fourth acting Oscar for the film, and Thompson won for his screenplay adaptation.

Bette Midler paid tribute on Instagram, describing Rydell as a mentor who shaped her career.

“Mark Rydell, the director of my first film, The Rose, died this morning. He was an actor of note before he became a director, and I was so lucky to have met him when I did; he taught me so much on The Rose and later on For The Boys. Two Oscars nominations both because of him. He was the actor's whisperer; just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed.”

Later career and legacy

Rydell continued directing into the 1990s and 2000s. "Intersection" (1994) paired Sharon Stone and Richard Gere as a frustrated married couple. In 2001, James Franco had his Hollywood breakthrough playing the title role in Rydell's award-winning television film "James Dean." Rydell also formed a producing partnership with Sydney Pollock in the mid-1980s, Sanford Prods. In later years he occasionally took acting roles, most notably as the psychotic gangster in Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye." Rydell was twice married; his second marriage ended in divorce in 2007. He is survived by three children, several grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.