Rambo director dies in hospital surrounded by family

Hollywood director Ted Kotcheff, who was behind a number of films including Weekend at Bernie’s and the Rambo trilogy, has died at Hospital Joya in Nuevo Nayarit, Mexico.

His heartbroken family who surrounded him at the hospital announced that he passed away at age 94.

However, his cause of death was not revealed.

Ted’s son Thomas Kotcheff, who spoke on behalf of the family, announced that his father passed away “peacefully” on Friday night.

Fans have taken to social media to pay tribute to the director with one person writing on X, “One of the great Canadian directors. RIP Ted.”

Another fan stated that he “Just watched First Blood last week, and viewed his comments in the special features. You could tell the guy loved making movies. Absolutely infectious commentary. RIP.”

“RIP Ted Kotcheff. One of the most artful and entertaining filmographies of the assignment directors of his era,” a third person posted, while someone else commented, “Gone too soon.”

Ted was very successful in his career, with his most notable work being the 1982 Sylvester Stallone classic film First Blood.

In the movie, the Rocky star played the iconic character of John Rambo, having been cast by Ted.

The film became the director’s biggest box office hit, grossing more than $125 million worldwide. Despite the film’s success, Ted refused to participate in the sequels.

“They offered me the first sequel, and after I read the script I said, ‘In the first film he doesn’t kill anybody. In this film he kills 75 people,'” Ted told Filmmaker magazine in 2016. “It seemed to be celebrating the Vietnam War, which I thought was one of the stupidest wars in history.”