A film legend has passed away.
Connecticut resident, Robert Mulligan, who directed the classic film "To Kill a Mockingbird," has died at 83.
He died early Saturday at his home in Lyme after a battle with heart disease, his wife, Sandy, said Monday.
Mulligan was nominated for an Oscar for "Mockingbird," the adaptation of Harper Lee's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The 1962 movie starred Gregory Peck, who won the best-actor Oscar for his portrayal of Atticus Finch, the small town lawyer who defends a black man falsely accused of rape.
Mulligan was also known as the director of Reese Witherspoon's first film, "The Man in the Moon," which came out in 1991. It was his last film. The family drama brought Witherspoon notice as the younger of two teenage daughters grappling with her first love.
Among his other credits were "Fear Strikes Out," the 1957 drama starring Anthony Perkins as troubled ballplayer Jim Piersall.
Mulligan also carved out a career as a TV director, working on such dramas as "The Philco Television Playhouse" and "The Alcoa Hour."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
