Milos Forman, who twice won the Oscar for Best Director, has died at the age of 86 following a short illness.

A part of the Czech New Wave, Forman's first US-made film was 1975's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest - which went on to sweep the five major categories - Best Director, Picture, Actor and Actress, and Best Screenplay (Adapted) at the Oscars that year, netting Forman his first Best Director win and first Best Picture. The film is only one of three films in the Academy's history to do so, the other two being It Happened One Night and Silence Of The Lambs.

Forman also directed Amadeus, the operatic biopic of the life and times of Mozart and his rivalry with the jilted court composer Salieri, played by F. Murray Abraham. The film picked up eight Oscars, including Forman's second for Best Director and another Best Picture. Most of Forman's most acclaimed work often dealt with well-known people with troubled personalities, such as Francisco Goya in Goya's Ghosts, Andy Kaufman in Man On The Moon, or Larry Flynt in The People Vs. Larry Flynt.

He is survived by his wife and four children.