Canadian film and TV director Ted Kotcheff, 94, died on April 10. Kotcheff started his career as a director with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and from the 1950s-70s, he bounced back and forth between Canada and England, directing both TV and movies. His early successes included No Trams to Lime Street, Hour of Mystery, Espionage, ITV Playhouse, and the 1971 Australian New Wave film Wake in Fright, and the Canadian The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Kotcheff hit Hollywood in the late ‘70s, his biggest hit being First Blood, the debut Rambo film. He also helmed such varied fare as Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?, North Dallas Forty, Uncommon Valor, Switching Channels, and Weekend at Bernie's. Kotcheff was married twice, his first wife being actress Sylvia Kay. He fondly recalled his days in early TV: “I did an anthology series of one-hour hour plays. One week I would be doing a drama. The next week I would be doing a comedy, the next I would be doing a history play. You could see what you were good at.”
