Filmmaker Albert Maysles, whose pioneering documentary work chronicled some of rock music's most transformational moments, died Thursday of natural causes, Stacey Farrar, marketing director at the Maysles Center in New York City, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Maysles was 88.
Maysles collaborated alongside his brother, David on films that showcased the emergent talents of such icons as Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, whose sexual charge and blues-infused sound was on display in their 1970 music film classic, Gimme Shelter.
Before that film, he also helmed 1964's What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A, and 1968's Monterey Pop, where the talents and physicality of both Joplin and Hendrix came alive in an era of rock before the exposure of MTV.
Maysles had also focused his creative eye on other icons, including the aunt of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in perhaps his best-known film, 1975's Grey Gardens as well as such earlier films as Meet Marlon Brando in 1965 and later half-hour portraits of filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Jane Campion and actor Robert Duvall, The Hollywood Reporter noted of his star-filled career.
"People are people," Maysles once explained of his craft, which was marked by an intimate style, now common but then rare, where he used a hand-held camera and shotgun microphone to connect the viewer more closely.
"We're out to discover what is going on behind the scenes and get as close as we can to what is happening," he said.
Maysles had battled pancreatic cancer and had become ill about a month before his death, Erika Dilday, executive director of the Maysles Institute told Newsweek. "He died at home surrounded by his family,” she said.
Maysles, who has a train film that he co-directed set to debut at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in April, In Transit was unapologetic in his quest for finding the innate truth in his subjects, as well as their hearts.
"Making a film isn't finding the answer to a question; it is trying to capture life as it is," he once said. "My advice for documentaries is the same for life: establish empathy."
Maysles was 88.
Maysles collaborated alongside his brother, David on films that showcased the emergent talents of such icons as Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, whose sexual charge and blues-infused sound was on display in their 1970 music film classic, Gimme Shelter.
Before that film, he also helmed 1964's What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A, and 1968's Monterey Pop, where the talents and physicality of both Joplin and Hendrix came alive in an era of rock before the exposure of MTV.
Maysles had also focused his creative eye on other icons, including the aunt of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in perhaps his best-known film, 1975's Grey Gardens as well as such earlier films as Meet Marlon Brando in 1965 and later half-hour portraits of filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Jane Campion and actor Robert Duvall, The Hollywood Reporter noted of his star-filled career.
Albert (left) and David Maysles
Marianne Barcellona / The LIFE Images Collection / Getty
"We're out to discover what is going on behind the scenes and get as close as we can to what is happening," he said.
Maysles had battled pancreatic cancer and had become ill about a month before his death, Erika Dilday, executive director of the Maysles Institute told Newsweek. "He died at home surrounded by his family,” she said.
Maysles, who has a train film that he co-directed set to debut at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival in April, In Transit was unapologetic in his quest for finding the innate truth in his subjects, as well as their hearts.
"Making a film isn't finding the answer to a question; it is trying to capture life as it is," he once said. "My advice for documentaries is the same for life: establish empathy."
