‘ER’ Legend Dies of Liver Cancer: Jonathan Kaplan Was 77

Five-time Emmy-nominated director Jonathan Kaplan has died. He was 77.

According to his daughter, Molly, he died from advanced liver cancer this past Friday in Los Angeles.

He got his start after studying film under Martin Scorsese at New York University. After graduation, Scorsese recommended him to world-renowned director/producer Roger Corman, who hired Kaplan to direct the sex comedy Night Call Nurses. The film was a success, as was the follow-up The Student Teachers.

Shortly after, he directed the legendary blaxploitation film Truck Turner in 1974, and the smash-hit noir White Line Fever the year after. His career stalled after the failure of 1977’s Mr. Billion, and took some time off from directing after finishing Over the Edge in 1979.

In 1988, his career was revived after he made The Accused, which earned Jodie Foster her first Oscar. Several high-profile films followed afterwards, including the 1992 Oscar-nominated drama Love Field about the country’s reception to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Starting in 1993, Kaplan moved to TV. He is best known for directing several episodes of and producing ER, for which he was Emmy nominated five times, and for working on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit for almost a decade.

He is survived by his daughter, Molly, his sister, Nora, and his two nieces.