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Wolfgang Petersen, Director of 'Das Boot' and 'Air Force One' Passes Away at 81

Wolfgang Petersen, Director of 'Das Boot' and 'Air Force One' Passes Away at 81

Wolfgang Petersen, the Oscar-nominated director of Das Boot, Air Force One, and The Perfect Storm, has passed away at 81 due to pancreatic cancer.

Actresses Glenn Close and Diane Lane paid their tributes to the late director.

Click inside to read the tributes…

“My heart is sad today,” Diane, who starred in The Perfect Storm, said in a statement to Deadline. “Wolfgang was a big, loving soul. A natural leader via positive encouragement; dare I say, he was a spiritual channel for us, grounding truly big stories to move us all through heights and depths. Literally, just being near him made me a better actor. My sincere condolences and love to his family.”

“Being directed by Wolfgang on Air Force One remains a special memory,” Glenn Close said in a statement on Tuesday (August 16).

“Even though the script was thrilling and incredibly intense, I remember a lot of laughs, especially in the scenes around the huge table in the War Room. Wolfgang set a remotely controlled camera that could rotate in place, seamlessly covering all of us, one after another. You knew the camera would pause on you by his hilarious direction while setting up the shot. He would point to us in turn and say, “Acting…acting…NO acting…NO acting…ACTING… aaaacting!” He didn’t waste anyone’s time. My memory is of a man full of joie de vivre who was doing what he most loved to do.“

We have sadly lost many stars in 2022.

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