Los Angeles – The Directors Guild of America mourns the passing of filmmaking greats Peter Bogdanovich and Sidney Poitier, both Guild members for over five decades.
Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 feature The Last Picture Show earned him a DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film. In 1998, the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress named the film to the National Film Registry. He was a member of the DGA Eastern Special Projects Committee, and frequently volunteered his time to moderate Guild events.
Throughout his seven-decade career, legendary multi-hyphenate Sidney Poitier toppled numerous barriers with vigor and grace. His 1980 feature Stir Crazy was the first movie directed by an African American to gross more than $100 million in North America. Poitier was a member of the Guild’s Eastern Directors Council in the 1970s. The DGA African American Steering Committee honored Poitier for his many contributions in 2001.
