Started in films as a supporting actor in 1950s, John Schlesinger made twenty-eight films during forty years. Although from the U.K, he was capable of looking deep inside American society. He won an Oscar with his Hollywood debut feature [Midnight Cowboy], which dealt with difficult subject matters of the time such as homosexuality and prostitution. With Dustin Hoffman’s outstanding performance, [Marathon Man] (1976) has been acclaimed as one of the excellent works of the thriller genre. He died of a stroke in 2003 at the age of 77.