Miloš Forman Net Worth

What is Miloš Forman's Net Worth?

Miloš Forman was a Czech-American filmmaker and actor who had a net worth of $10 million. After rising to fame in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s as the director of such films as "Loves of a Blonde" and "The Firemen's Ball," Miloš Forman moved to the United States and went on to make such English-language films as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Hair," "Amadeus," "Ragtime," and "The People vs. Larry Flynt." For both "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus," he won the Academy Award for Best Director.

Early Life and Education

Miloš Forman was born Jan Thomáš Forman on February 18, 1932 in Čáslav, Czechoslovakia to single mother Anna, who was a hotelier. He believed his biological father was a man named Rudolf, but he later found out it was Jewish architect Otto Kohn. During the Nazi occupation, Rudolf was a member of the resistance and died in the Buchenwald concentration camp. Forman's mother was also killed, she at Auschwitz. He was subsequently brought up by two uncles and some family friends. After attending grammar school in Náchod, Forman attended a boarding school in Poděbrady. He went on to study screenwriting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Film Career in Czechoslovakia

Forman began working in film in the 1950s, first as an actor in the 1953 comedy "A Woman as Good as Her Word." He went on to start directing in the 1960s, with early credits including the documentaries "If Only They Ain't Had Them Bands" and "Audition." Forman had his breakthrough with his debut narrative feature, "Black Peter," which won the Golden Leopard at the 1964 Locarno International Film Festival. The film, a dark comedy about an aimless and timid teenage security guard, established Forman as one of the pioneers of the emergent Czechoslovak New Wave. He cemented that reputation with his next film, "Loves of a Blonde," which premiered in 1965 and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Forman's subsequent film, "The Firemen's Ball" (1967), also earned an Academy Award nomination in that category. A mordant takedown of Eastern European Communism, "The Firemen's Ball" was banned by the Communist Czechoslovak government following the invasion of the Soviets in 1968.

Director Milos Forman 1984 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

Film Career in the United States

Fired by his Czech employer in the wake of the Soviet invasion, Forman immigrated to the United States. His first American film, the comedy "Taking Off," won the Grand Prix at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. However, it was commercially unsuccessful upon its theatrical release. Forman next directed a segment of the 1973 documentary anthology film "Visions of Eight," about the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He subsequently turned to literary adaptation with his 1975 adaptation of Ken Kesey's cult novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," revolving around the institutional struggles of patients at an Oregon psychiatric hospital. Starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, the film was a massive hit both critically and commercially. It went on to become just the second film ever to win the top five categories at the Academy Awards, including Forman's first win for Best Director. Forman concluded the 1970s with an adaptation of the rock musical "Hair," which was a box-office disappointment.

Forman's first film of the 1980s was the epic drama "Ragtime," an adaptation of the 1975 historical novel of the same name by E. L. Doctorow. Released at the end of 1981, the film earned eight Academy Award nominations. Continuing his trend of adaptations, Forman next directed the epic period biopic "Amadeus," based on the play by Peter Shaffer about legendary composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rivalry with composer Antonio Salieri. "Amadeus" was a critical and commercial smash, sweeping the Academy Awards with eight wins and garnering Forman his second Best Director trophy. After that, Forman returned to acting with a role in Mike Nichols's 1986 film "Heartburn." His next film as director was the 1989 period drama "Valmont," based on the 18th-century French novel "Les Liaisons dangereuses." Ultimately, "Valmont" was overshadowed by Stephen Frears's lauded adaptation of the same novel, which had been released the previous year.

In his last credit of the 1980s, Forman acted in the dramedy "New Year's Day." He didn't direct another film until the biopic "The People vs. Larry Flynt," which came out at the end of 1996. Starring Woody Harrelson as the titular pornographic publisher who clashed with the law, the film was critically acclaimed and earned Forman his third and final Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Although he didn't win this time, he did claim the Golden Globe for Best Director. "The People vs. Larry Flynt" went on to win the Golden Bear at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival. Forman's next film was another biopic: "Man on the Moon," about entertainer Andy Kaufman. Starring Jim Carrey as Kaufman, the film was released at the end of 1999. Kicking off the new millennium, Forman acted in Edward Norton's 2000 romcom "Keeping the Faith." His final film as director, the biopic "Goya's Ghosts," came out in late 2006. It stars Javier Bardem as Spanish painter Francisco Goya.

Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Academia

Beyond his filmmaking career, Forman was a professor of film at Columbia University in New York in the late 1970s, as well as co-chair of the film department. Among his protégés was future Academy Award-nominated director James Mangold. Toward the end of his life, Forman received a Doctor of Humane Letters from the university.

Personal Life and Death

Forman was married three times and had four children. He wed his first wife, actress Jana Brejchová, in 1958. They divorced in 1962. Forman subsequently married actress and singer Věra Křesadlová in 1964; they had twin sons named Petr and Matěj before separating in 1969. Forman married his third and final wife, Martina Zbořilová, in 1999. They had twin sons named Jim and Andy.

On April 13, 2018, Forman passed away at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut. He was 86 years of age. Forman is buried in New Warren Cemetery in Warren, Connecticut, where he had lived.

Who's Richer?

Miloš
Forman

Compare!

Tom
Hulce