German film producer Bernd Eichinger dead at 61
- Eichinger is best known for "The Neverending Story" and others
- He died of a heart attack Monday night, his production company says
- He co-produced the Oscar-winning film "Nowhere in Africa"
Los Angeles (CNN) -- German film producer Bernd Eichinger, best known for movies such as "The Neverending Story," "The Name of the Rose" and "Downfall," has died, his production company told CNN. He was 61.
Eichinger died of a heart attack Monday night in Los Angeles while dining with family and friends, his production company, Constantin Film, said in a statement.
"In Bernd we have lost a friend and companion," the statement said. "Our grief and sorrow cannot be expressed in words. For over 30 years Bernd was the heart of Constantin Film and left his mark on both the German and the international film industry."
"Bernd Eichinger was one of my most reliable friends," French director Jean Jacques Annaud, who worked with Eichinger on "The Name of the Rose," told CNN. "... He was a man of great energy. He was a unique sort of producer that made extravagant things possible. He was a guy who went with this gut. He never thought of the box office but was driven more by passion."
On Wednesday, the headline in the German tabloid Bild said, "The genius of German cinema is dead."
After graduating from Munich's Television and Film Academy in 1973, Eichinger founded his first production company, Solaris Film, "and began a career that was to change the course of the German film industry," according to his biography on the Constantin Film website.
He assumed directorship of Munich, Germany-based Constantin Film in 1979, and produced "The Neverending Story," "Christiane F.," and "Last Exit to Brooklyn," among others. He co-produced "Nowhere in Africa," which won an Oscar for best foreign language film, "Resident Evil" and its sequel "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and "Downfall," which starred Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler and was nominated for a foreign language Oscar. He also produced "Fantastic Four," based on the Marvel comic, and "The Baader Meinhof Complex," which was also nominated for an Academy Award.
"With Bernd Eichinger's death we are losing a great German filmmaker and producer who like few others shaped the international art of film," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement. "He will remain unforgettable to the film public for his great successes, 'The Neverending Story,' 'The Name of the Rose,' 'Downfall' and 'Perfume' and for many more. I send my heartfelt sympathies to his family."
CNN's Ben Brumfield, Diana Magnay, Neil Curry and Marco Woldt contributed to this report.
