Denis Heroux, best known for producing Oscar-nominated 1980 film "Atlantic City" and "Mask" cartoon series, has died. He was 75.
Denis passed away Thursday night in Montreal, said The Hollywood Reporter.
The Quebec filmmaker also produced the 'Mask' cartoon series and 'Quest for Fire.'
Veteran distributor Christian Larouche of Christal Films, whose wife, Caroline Heroux, is the goddaughter of Denis , announced the death on his Twitter account.
"We have lost a man who made world cinema. You were great. Thanks Denis Heroux. Rest in peace," Larouche said in a tweet.
Denis, who was born in Montreal in 1940, started out as a film director in the 1960s before turning to producing in the late 1970s.
He earned an Oscar nomination for producing Louis Malle's Atlantic City", the US-Canada romantic crime drama that starred Burt Lancaster and Susan Sarandon and picked up five Academy Award nods.
"Atlantic City" did not win an Oscar, but did earn the Golden Lion in Venice in 1980, sharing the prize with John Cassavetes' "Gloria". Denis' producing credits also included Jean-Jacques Annaud's "Quest for Fire" (1982).
Patrick Roy, head of Entertainment One Films Canada, paid tribute to the producer on his own Twitter account, "What sad news. A privilege to have been able to meet this great producer who made our cinema.
