"Network," "Serpico" director Sidney Lumet dies at 86

Director Sidney Lumet, right, receives an honorary Oscar at the 2005 Academy Awards. He was introduced by Al Pacino, left, who acted in Lumet's "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Serpico." ( Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press file )

NEW YORK ? Sidney Lumet, the award-winning director of such acclaimed films as "Network," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon" and "12 Angry Men," has died. He was 86.

Lumet's death was confirmed by relatives and friends, who said he died Saturday at his Manhattan home. He had suffered from lymphoma.

A Philadelphia native, Lumet moved to New York City as a child, and it became the location of choice for more than 30 of his films. Although he freely admitted to a lifelong love affair with the city, he often showed its grittier side.

Such dramas as "Prince of the City," "Q&A," "Night Falls on Manhattan" and "Serpico" looked at the hard lives and corruptibility of New York police officers. "Dog Day Afternoon" told the true-life story of two social misfits who set in motion a chain of disastrous events when they tried to rob a New York City bank on an oppressively hot summer afternoon.

"It's not an anti-L.A. thing," Lumet said of his New York favoritism in a 1997 interview. "I just don't like to live in a company town."

Although he didn't work in Los Angeles, the director maintained good relations with the Hollywood studios, partly because he finished his pictures under schedule and budget. His television beginnings had schooled him in working fast, and he rarely shot more than four takes of a scene.

He was nominated four times for directing Academy Awards, and actors in his films won 17 Oscars. But Lumet himself never won.

Lumet did receive an honorary Oscar in 2005 for lifetime achievement. He also received the Directors Guild of America's prestigious D.W. Griffith Award for lifetime achievement in 1993.

Composer Quincy Jones, who scored music for five of Lumet's films, said he was devastated to learn of his passing. He told The Associated Press in a statement that Lumet gave him his start in movies in 1963 with "The Pawnbroker."

"Sidney was a visionary filmmaker whose movies made an indelible mark on our popular culture with their stirring commentary on our society," Jones said. "Future generations of filmmakers will look to Sidney's work for guidance and inspiration, but there will never be another who comes close to him."

Brittany Lee Dido Rose McGowan Arielle Kebbel Miranda Kerr