American film and stage director Arthur Penn, best known for his revolutionary 1967 movie “Bonnie and Clyde,” has died, a friend of the filmmaker said Wednesday. He was 88. “He died Tuesday night here in New York,” said Evan Bell, a friend and financial advisor to Penn, without giving any further details. Penn, who pioneered live television drama in the 1950s, left an indelible mark on American cinema with the film in which he directed Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the legendary Depression-era outlaws. Despite being laced with comic moments, the film was more blood-soaked than those usually screened in the United States at the time and broke many taboos. Although it was panned by some shocked critics, “Bonnie and Clyde” went on to win two Oscars and is now seen as a landmark film, paving the way for a new wave of gritty movies, such as “The Graduate” and “Easy Rider,” and a new generation of directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
