Stars pay tribute to filmmaker

Acclaimed British director John Schlesinger has been hailed as one of the country's movie greats as tributes poured in following his death.

Schlesinger, best known for cinematic classics such as Midnight Cowboy and Sunday Bloody Sunday, died aged 77.

A galaxy of Hollywood's most respected actors paid tribute to Schlesinger's original and groundbreaking achievements in filmmaking.

Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman, who played Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy, said of Schlesinger's death: "Shakespeare said it best in Hamlet, 'We will never see the likes of him again'."

Actor Richard Gere, who starred as an American GI in Schlesinger's 1979 Second World War romance Yanks, described the filmmaker as "an original".

"John's string of films in the 60s and 70s are as astonishingly good as any films made - any time, anywhere. Audacious, challenging, irascible, moving, witty, wise and deeply personal," he said.

Hollywood star Sean Penn, who starred in the director's The Falcon and the Snowman, said: "John left us some magic and I'm proud to have known him and worked with him."

Film director Michael Winner said Schlesinger's death was "a great loss" and paid tribute to his work.

"His contribution to British cinema in the 60s was supreme. Nobody made a greater contribution," he said.

"The thing that distinguished his films was his love and care for the underdog, for people who couldn't make life work."

The Oscar winner, who had been based in the US for many years, was taken off a life support machine in Palm Springs on Thursday.

He had been in fragile health since a stroke in December 2000 and his condition had worsened in recent weeks.

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