Sidney Lumet, director of some of Hollywood's most enduring classics, has died aged 86. Lumet's stepdaughter, Leslie Gimbel, confirmed that he passed away from Lymphoma at his home in Manhattan. Lumet was a director of notable distinction, infusing him films with a sense of drama and notably eschewed the Hollywood backlots and studios in favour of shooting in real locations, on real city streets which gave him a reputation for producing some of cinemas grittiest, most realistic dramas. His first film, 1957's 12 Angry Men, saw Lumet take his camera into a jury room and follow the deliberations a panel of jurors as they disintegrated and turned on each other over the course of 90 minutes. It was in 1976 that Lumet had arguably his most acclaimed movie - Network, which was nominated for ten Oscars, winning four. Despite being behind the camera for such other films as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and The Verdict and his films garnering over 40 Academy Award nominations, Lumet never won an Oscar himself. However, in 2005 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented him with an honorary statuette for his services to film. His response to this some time later? "I wanted one damn it, and felt like I deserved one!"