Sidney Lumet, who directed classic American Oscar-winning films "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network" in a career spanning half a century, died Saturday at age 86, The New York Times reported. Stepdaughter Leslie Gimbel said Lumet died of the cancer lymphoma, the Times reported.
Lumet was seen as one of the most significant directors in American cinema, making more than 40 movies with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, and while nominated five times for an Academy Award he never personally won one. He burst onto the scene in 1957 with "12 Angry Men," the courtroom drama starring Henry Fonda as a juror who slowly convinces his peers that the person on trial for murder is innocent.
Lumet turned his lens on the gritty streets of his beloved New York, notably in "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon," two 1970s gems starring Al Pacino which became classics of the crime drama genre. The 1976 film was nominated for 10 Oscars, and won four, including best actor (Peter Finch), best actress (Faye Dunaway) and best screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky), but not for best director.