Ivan Passer

Ivan Passer was a Czechoslovakian-born director and screenwriter.

Passer was known for being a leading figure in the Czech New Wave and for directing the films Born to Win (1971), Cutter's Way (1981), and Stalin (1992).

He studied at FAMU in Prague where he began his career as an assistant director before penning the Oscar nominated films Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Firemen's Ball (1967).

Passer would go on to write and direct Intimate Lighting (1965), Born to Win (1971), Law and Disorder (1974), Crime and Passion (1976), and direct Silver Bears (1977), Haunted Summer (1988), Pretty Hattie's Baby (1991), The Wishing Tree (1999), and Nomad: The Warrior (2005).

Passer also directed episodes of the television series While Justice Sleeps and Faerie Tale Theatre.

Passer died January 9, 2020, in Reno, Nevada. He was 86.