Canadian director Ted Kotcheff, who helmed ‘Weekend at Bernie’s,’ dead at 94

Ted Kotcheff is seen in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Kate Kotcheff

Ted Kotcheff, the genre-hopping Canadian filmmaker known for helming Rambo movie “First Blood” and comedies including “Weekend at Bernie’s,” has died at 94.

The Toronto native died in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico on Thursday while under sedation, his daughter Kate Kotcheff said.

Over his career that spanned about six decades, Kotcheff amassed a wide variety of credits, including as director of the 1974 classic “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,” an adaptation of Mordecai Richler’s novel.

With 1982’s “First Blood,” Kotcheff introduced audiences to the fictional soldier John Rambo, marking Sylvester Stallone’s first post-“Rocky” hit.

Kotcheff also helmed the seminal 1971 Australian New Wave film “Wake in Fright,” and 1979 sports drama “North Dallas Forty.”

More recently he was executive producer for hundreds of episodes of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

A documentary about his life, “The Apprenticeship of Ted Kotcheff,” is currently in the works.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2025.