Anthony Minghella, Award-Winning Director, Dies

Acclaimed director Anthony Minghella has died at the age of 54, his agent confirmed today. No details as to the cause of his death are available at this time.

Minghella directed The English Patient, a film that garnered 9 Academy Award nominations, won Best Picture, and earned Minghella the Oscar for Best Director.

In 1999 he adapted The Talented Mr. Ripley, which received 5 Oscar nominations including a nom for Minghella for his screenplay adaptation.

In 2003 he directed Cold Mountain, a recipient of 6 Oscar nominations and one win for Renee Zellweger for Best Supporting Actress.

Minghella was the recipient of numerous other awards and nominations for his body of work. Producer David Puttnam said Minghella was "a very special person."

"He wasn’t just a writer, or a writer-director, he was someone who was very well-known and very well-loved within the film community," Puttnam told the BBC. "Frankly he was far too young to have gone.”