Milos Forman was born in Caslav, Czechoslovakia on February 18, 1932. As a boy, he witnessed Germany's invasion in 1939. His mother and the man he believed was his father were separately seized by the Germans and killed in death camps. Raised by foster parents, he attended film school in Prague. He made his mark with a film and theater presentation at the 1958 Brussels World Exhibition. His early films included The Loves of a Blonde and The Firemen's Ball.
He moved to the United States and started directing films there. His films included Taking Off, Hair, Ragtime, Valmont, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Man on the Moon, and Goya's Ghosts. He won the Oscar for best director for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus. His memoir, Turnaround: A Memoir written with Jan Novak, was published in 1994. He died on April 13, 2018 at the age of 86.
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