Italian director Ettore Scola dies at 84

Italian film director Ettore Scola, whose Oscar-nominated films chronicled the growing pains, class divisions and frustrated idealisms of 20th century Italy, has died at the age of 84, his family said. Scola died in a Rome hospital late on Tuesday night after being in coma for several days. Born in a small town in southern Italy, he directed some of world’s greatest actors, including Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Fanny Ardant and Jack Lemmon. One of his most acclaimed films was the 1977 A Special Day. It was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign film and Mastroianni was a nominee for best actor.