born Feb. 18, 1932, Cáslav, Czech.
Czech-U.S. film director.
He began his career as a scriptwriter, then directed his first feature film in 1964. Success followed with the ironic comedies Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Fireman's Ball (1967). He moved to the U.S. in 1969 and successfully applied his light touch to the generation gap in Taking Off (1971), then triumphed with One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Academy Award). He directed successful screen adaptations of the E.L. Doctorow novel Ragtime (1981) and the stage play Amadeus (1984, Academy Award); his later films include Valmont (1989) and The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996).