Bernardo Bertolucci, whose epic “The Last Emperor” won nine Oscars and who influenced generations of filmmakers with other groundbreaking* works such as “The Conformist” and “Last Tango in Paris,” in which he explored politics and sexuality through personal storytelling and audacious camera work, has died. He was 77.

His publicist, Flavia Schiavi, said Bertolucci died at his home in Rome at 7 a.m. Monday. He had been suffering from cancer.

Italy’s greatest auteur* of his generation, Bertolucci managed to work both in Europe and Hollywood, though his relationship with the studios had its ups and downs. But even when he operated within the studio system, Bertolucci always managed to make films that were considered projections of his inner world.

“The Last Emperor,” an adaptation of the autobiography* of China’s last imperial ruler, Pu Yi, swept the 1987 Oscars, winning every category in which it had been nominated, including best picture and best director. With it, Bertolucci became the first and only Italian to win the Oscar for best director. “The Last Emperor” is among the movies that have won the most Academy Awards and was also the first Western epic about China made with the Chinese government’s cooperation.

Born March 16, 1941 into a wealthy family in the northern Italian city of Parma, Bertolucci was a prodigious* talent from a young age. The son of well-known poet and writer Attilio Bertolucci, he himself won an award for poetry at age 21, then decided to become a filmmaker.

Bertolucci’s second marriage to production and costume designer Maria Paola Maino ended in divorce. He is survived by his third wife, screenwriter and director Clare Peploe, whom he married in 1979.

(SD-Agencies)