Dustin Hoffman starred in Midnight Cowboy

He was born in London in 1926 and grew up in Hampstead, the eldest of five children.

He studied English Literature at Balliol College, Oxford, where he acted with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, before becoming a professional actor.

He turned to film making with the BBC, producing current affairs programmes such as Tonight and the arts programme, Monitor.

The first film he made for the cinema was Terminus, a documentary for British Transport Films.

The film followed 24 hours in the life of Waterloo Station, and won numerous awards, including the Golden Lion from the Venice Film Festival and a Bafta.

He reached international fame with 1969's Midnight Cowboy.

The film, which starred Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, earned Schlesinger an Oscar for best director.

Successful

In the 1970s and 1980s, he directed many gritty and tough movies including Laurence Olivier's Marathon Man, Sunday Bloody Sunday and The Falcon and the Snowman, which starred Sean Penn.

Schlesinger has continued to direct successfully both on TV and on the big screen, with work including Cold Comfort Farm and Pacific Heights.

In 2000 he directed The Next Best Thing, starring Madonna as a yoga teacher who becomes pregnant by her gay best friend played by Rupert Everett.

In the last couple of years he has been suffered from health problems.

He underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery two years ago and last year he suffered a stroke.