Ted Kotcheff
Updated: 12/11/2025, 3:33:59 PM Wikipedia source
William Theodore Kotcheff (Bulgarian: Величко Тодоров Цочев, romanized: Velichko Todorov Tsochev; April 7, 1931 – April 10, 2025) was a Canadian director and producer of film, television, and theatre. He worked at various times in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He was known for having directed such films as the seminal Australian New Wave picture Wake in Fright (1971), the Mordecai Richler adaptations The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) and Joshua Then and Now (1985), the original Rambo film First Blood (1982), and the comedies Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), North Dallas Forty (1979), and Weekend at Bernie's (1989). Kotcheff was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction, a Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, and twice for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or. He won the Golden Bear at the 1974 Berlin International Film Festival for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, and the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series for his work on Play for Today. He received the Directors Guild of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's Board of Directors' Tribute Award in 2014. He was described by the Toronto International Film Festival as a "talented, multi-faceted journeyman director in the tradition of Leo McCarey or Robert Wise".
Infobox
Born
William Theodore Kotcheff(1931-04-07)April 7, 1931Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died
April 10, 2025(2025-04-10) (aged 94)Nuevo Nayarit, Nayarit, Mexico
Other names
William T. KotcheffVelichko Todorov Tsochev
Citizenship
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Occupations
Directorproducer
Years active
1956–2012
Spouses
mw- Sylvia Kay (m. 1960; div. 1972) Laifun Chung
Children
5, including Thomas
Tables
· Awards and honours
1972
Role(s)
Best Drama Production
Notes
Play for Today: "Edna, the Inebriate Woman"
1974
2011
Role(s)
German Independence Honorary Award
2014
2018
Role(s)
Performing Arts (Silver)
Notes
Director's Cut: My Life in Film
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
| 1971 | Cannes Film Festival | Grand Prix du Festival International du Film | Wake in Fright | Nominated |
| 1972 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Drama Production | Play for Today: "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" | Won |
| 1974 | Berlin International Film Festival | Golden Bear | The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz | |
| 1975 | Canadian Film Awards | Film of the Year | ||
| 1985 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Joshua Then and Now | Nominated |
| 1986 | Genie Awards | Best Director | ||
| 1989 | Deauville Film Festival | Critics Award | Weekend at Bernie's | |
| 1998 | Gemini Awards | Best TV Movie or Dramatic Mini-Series | Borrowed Hearts | |
| 2011 | Directors Guild of Canada | Lifetime Achievement Award | — | Won |
| Oldenburg International Film Festival | German Independence Honorary Award | |||
| 2014 | Chicago International Film Festival | Gold Hugo for Best Short Film | Fearless | Nominated |
| Canadian Screen Awards | Academy Board of Directors' Tribute | — | Won | |
| 2018 | 22nd Independent Publisher Book Awards | Performing Arts (Silver) | Director's Cut: My Life in Film |
References
- US Director Ted Kotcheff Granted Bulgarian Citizenship. Bulgarian Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on Friday grantedhttps://www.novinite.com/articles/173620/US+Director+Ted+Kotcheff+Granted+Bulgarian+Citizenshi
- Making It Like a Man: Canadian Masculinities in .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva
- theatricalia.comhttps://theatricalia.com/person/ywy/ted-kotcheff
- The Guardian Weekly
- Toronto Starhttps://www.thestar.com/entertainment/the-apprenticeship-of-ted-kotcheff/article_12f0030c-85b7-5446-a1f1-14eb25c01a8f.html
- Toronto Starhttps://www.thestar.com/entertainment/ted-kotcheff-and-colm-feore-honoured-at-canadian-screen-awards/article_40bbb4bb-dea6-5c29-91cd-c152a5320f39.html
- Canadian Film Encyclopediahttps://cfe.tiff.net/canadianfilmencyclopedia/content/bios/ted-kotcheff
- Capital.bghttp://www.capital.bg/light/lica/2016/02/29/2714582_20_vuprosa_ted_kochev/
- Slaviani, Tom 24, Slavianski komitet v Bŭlgaria, Komitet za bŭlgarite v chuzb̈ina, 1968, str. 87.https://books.google.com/books?id=O8lmAAAAMAAJ&q=%D0%B2%D1%8A%D0%BC%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BB
- Encyclopedia of Canada's Peopleshttps://books.google.com/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&q=Encyclopedia+of+Canada's+peoples++Multicultural+History&pg=PA1280
- Loring M. Danforth The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, pp. 85-89: "The largest number
- Toronto Starhttps://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2011/10/28/the_apprenticeship_of_ted_kotcheff_1.html
- University of Toronto Magazinehttp://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/duddy-and-me-the-apprenticeship-of-duddy-kravitz-ted-kotcheff/
- From Da to Yes: Understanding the East Europeanshttps://books.google.com/books?id=2Y8GNIp42ysC
- Voices of film experience: 1894 to the presenthttps://books.google.com/books?id=9xEeAAAAMAAJ
- The New York Times Encyclopedia of Filmhttps://books.google.com/books?id=MxhlAAAAMAAJ
- Duddy and Me. (They were both immigrants from Bulgaria, she was of Macedonian descent)http://www.magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/duddy-and-me-the-apprenticeship-of-duddy-kravitz-ted-kotcheff/
- Ted Kotcheff's Bulgarian journey The Sofia Globe, March 24, 2016https://sofiaglobe.com/2016/03/24/ted-kotcheffs-bulgarian-journey/
- Режисьорът Тед Кочев: България и Македония са едно. Вестник Труд, 16.03.2016 г.http://trud.bg/article-5366778/
- The Hollywood Reporterhttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/ted-kotcheff-dead-first-blood-weekend-at-bernies-1236188681/
- Theatricaliahttps://theatricalia.com/person/ywy/ted-kotcheff
- Theatricaliahttps://theatricalia.com/play/4k7/maggie-may/production/9ys
- The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-lionel-bart-1085282.html
- The Seattle Timeshttp://seattletimes.com/html/movies/2019521213_mr26wake.html
- berlinale.dehttp://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1974/03_preistr_ger_1974/03_Preistraeger_1974.html
- "Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time", The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2012, URL accessed 28 April 2013.https://web.archive.org/web/20130703002312/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/top-10-canadian-films-of-all-time
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://deadline.com/2025/04/ted-kotcheff-dead-first-blood-weekend-at-bernies-law-and-order-svu-1236366742/
- Film Dividerhttp://www.filmdivider.com/237/ted-kotcheff-discusses-wake-in-fright-animal-welfare-and-existentialism/
- В-к "Труд", 11.02.2016 г. Режисьорът на "Рамбо" Тед Кочев иска българско гражданство.http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=5294235
- www.europost.bghttp://www.europost.bg/article?id=15828
- US Director Ted Kotcheff Granted Bulgarian Citizenship, Sofia News Agency, March 19, 2016http://www.novinite.com/articles/173620/US+Director+Ted+Kotcheff+Granted+Bulgarian+Citizenship
- The Globe and Mailhttps://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/article-canadian-filmmaker-ted-kotcheff-director-of-first-blood-and-weekend-at/
- The Canadian Presshttps://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/entertainment/canadian-director-ted-kotcheff-who-helmed-the-apprenticeship-of-duddy-kravitz-and-weekend-at-bernies/article_6c54cd00-240b-5968-b60f-f4876d828260.html
- "Ted Kotcheff Awards"https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0467646/awards?ref_=nm_awd
- "2018 Independent Publisher Book Awards General Results"http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=2302