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BBC legend and director who worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger dies aged 86

British director John Irvin directed major pictures including Hamburger Hill, The Dogs of War and Raw Deal as well as the acclaimed BBC series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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Acclaimed director John Irvin has died at the age of 76(Image: Getty Images)

Acclaimed director John Irvin has died at the age of 76. Irvin died "peacefully at home" on August 11, surrounded by family, his producer Claire Evans confirmed to the media.

The British filmmaker directed the hit 1979 BBC miniseries Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which won two BAFTAs. He also made huge films in the 1980s including Hamburger Hill, The Dogs of War and Raw Deal, the latter of which starred action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The director's breakthrough work was a 1963 documentary short about the Algerian War of Independence. Irvin would then earn a BAFTA nomination for Best Short Film for his 1967 short Mafia No! about Italian social activist Danilo Dolci.

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The filmmaker was surrounded by family(Image: Nils Jorgensen/Shutterstock)

During his career spanning over 50 decades, he also directed Anthony Hopkins in his first ever TV role. This was in The Peasant's Revolt.

In the 1970s, he moved into TV and in 1977 directed an adaptation of Charles Dickens' Hard Times. In the same year, he directed the adaptation of John le Carre's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, starring Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Alexander Knox and Bernard Helpton.

The miniseries won widespsread critical aclaim and won BAFTA TV Awards for Best Actor (Guiness), Best Film Cameraman (Tony Pierce-Roberts). It was also nominated for Best Drama Series at the BAFTA Tv Awards and for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series.

The following decade would see Irvin work on major Hollywood pictures. He directed The Dogs of War (1980) starring Christopher Walken, Ghost Story (1981) starring Fred Astaire and Champions (1984) starring John Hurt.

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Irvin's career spanned over 50 decades(Image: AFP)

And in 1986, he directed the action film Raw Deal starring Schwarzenegger. The following year, he directed Michael Patrick Boatman and Don Cheadle in the Vietnam War movie Hamburger Hill, and in 1979 he worked with Patrick Swayze on Next of Kin.

His film credits in the 1990s include Robin Hood (with Uma Thurman and Patrick Bergin) and in the noughties he'd share the set with Michael Caine in Shiner.

He said of his polical leanings: "I was far too left wing, for a start, but was anti-apartheid, anti-war, anti-nuclear. They were probably well aware of my left-wing activities, so I was certainly not involved in any hanky-panky."

Irvin is survived by his three children Emilie, Luke and Amy.

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