the Czech government to make a film in the U.S. But while he was in Paris negotiating the project, Soviet tanks rolled onto the streets of Prague, halting a dissident uprising. Rather than return home, Forman went to New York to live in exile.

He made his American debut in 1970 with “Taking Off,” a dark comedy about a teenage girl who runs away to be a hippie. But the film was a flop, Forman thought, because his storytelling didn’t translate and he couldn’t write in fluent English.

After years spent searching for inspiration, he was hired to direct the adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1960 novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”


It was a tricky shoot in an Oregon psychiatric hospital with real patients as extras. Some of the castactually slept on the ward. Much of the dialogue was improvised. The cinematographer was fired more than halfway through and Jack Nicholson stopped speaking to Forman.

But when it was released, the movie was universally acclaimed, becoming only the second in history to earn an Oscar in every major category.

Though Forman had no experience in musicals and was pro-Vietnam War, he was eager to adapt the Broadway musical “Hair.” The hippie movement’s idealized notion of freedom fascinated him. His 1978 film adaptation earned critical acclaim and nominations for a César award and two Golden Globes.

Around that time, Forman settled into American life, becoming a naturalized citizen and buying an old dairy farm outside Danbury. He continued through the 1980s to make a film every few years, toiling for months