Forman, Milos (1932– )

Czech-born US film director. His film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) won the five top Academy Awards. His other films include Ragtime (1981), the lavishly designed Amadeus (1984), for which he received an Academy Award, The People vs Larry Flynt (1996), and Man on the Moon (1999).

Lásky jedné plavovlásky/A Blonde in Love (1965) and the acclaimed Hoří, ma panenko/The Fireman's Ball (1967) established him as one of the major talents of the Czech new-wave cinema.

He studied drama before working in the Prague film studios in the late 1950s. His first film, Konkurs/Talent Competition (1963), was made in 16 mm, and was followed by Černý Petr/Black Peter in the same year. This latter film illustrated his interest in behavioural studies, as did A Blonde in Love. After the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, Forman emigrated to the USA.