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‘Das Boot’ Director, Wolfgang Petersen, dies at 81

NEW YORK — Wolfgang Petersen, the German filmmaker behind the action adventures “Das Boot,” “In the Line of Fire,” “Air Force One” and “The Perfect Storm,” died on Friday. He was 81.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peterson died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Brentwood.

In 1981, “Das Boot” launched Petersen as a filmmaker in Hollywood, The movie was nominated for six Oscars, including for his direction and adaptation of Lothar-Gunther Buchheim’s best-selling 1973 novel.

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Peterson directed several action hits, including “The Never Ending Story,” “Enemy Mine,” “In the Line of Fire,” “Outbreak,” “Air Force One” and “The Perfect Storm.” According to Deadline, he was admired by the actors in his movies, including Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.

Petersen is survived by his second wife Maria-Antoinette Borgel, a German script supervisor and assistant director whom he wed in 1978, his son Daniel Petersen and two grandchildren, according to The Associated Press.