Director George T. Miller, known for helming The Man From Snowy River, has died aged 79.
According to an article published in The Age on Saturday, the veteran filmmaker suffered a heart attack in a hospital in Melbourne.
Not to be confused with Mad Max creator George Miller, who rose to prominence around the same time, George Trumbull Miller was the son of Scottish immigrants who arrived in the country in 1947.
He began his screen career in the sixties with Crawford Productions, starting in the mail room before moving on to work as a cameraman, and eventually becoming a director with credits that included Ryan, Cash and Company, Division 4, The Box, Matlock Police, The Sullivans, and Against The Wind, among others.
It was in 1982, however, that his career reached new heights with the release of The Man From Snowy River, a drama based on Banjo Patterson’s poem that starred Tom Burlinson, Sigrid Thornton and Kirk Douglas.
The film remains in the top 20 Australian feature films at the domestic box office in unadjusted terms, having taken more $17 million.
Its success opened up new opportunities in Hollywood for Miller, who would go on to direct the sequel to The NeverEnding Story, the Christmas movie In The Nick of Time, Andre, Zeus and Roxanne, Robinson Crusoe, and In the Doghouse.
Following a series of telemovies, Miller’s final feature credit came in 2009 with horror/thriller Prey, a title that he requested his name be removed from following a dispute with the producers.
Burlinson and Thornton were among those to pay tribute to the director on social media, with the former stating that he “learnt a great deal about acting” from Miller.
“Before the shoot we spent some hours together in the high country in preparation for this iconic photo he shot with his still camera during ‘magic hour’,” he wrote.
“I’ll always be grateful to George for his fine work in the movie that changed my life.”
Thornton described Miller as a “dynamic collaborator with a crazy sense of humour”.
“You told Australian stories through film and television and they will continue to inspire for many years to come,” she wrote.
Miller is survived by his sons Harvey and Geordie.