Oscar-nominated director Mark Rydell dies at 97

Mark Rydell, the Oscar-nominated director whose 1981 drama On Golden Pond became one of the most beloved films in American cinema and guided Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn to Academy Awards, died Thursday of natural causes at a retirement community for the entertainment industry in Woodland Hills. He was 97.

His daughter, Amy Rydell, confirmed his passing to the Hollywood Reporter. She posted on Instagram on Friday: "Hard to put into words how much I loved my dad. He was truly one of a kind. Funniest and most talented person I've ever known."

Bette Midler, who starred in two films directed by Rydell, also paid tribute. "Mark Rydell, the director of my first film, The Rose, died this morning," she wrote on Instagram. "He was the actors' whisperer, just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed. Devoted to Meisner. So many happy memories."

Born Mortimer Harold Rydell on March 23, 1929, in New York City, he studied at the Juilliard School of Music and trained as an actor at the Neighborhood Playhouse under the legendary Sanford Meisner. After a stint as a jazz pianist and an early career as an actor, including a six-year run on the CBS soap opera As the World...