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Producer Bernd Eichinger Suffers Deadly Heart Attack In LA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — German movie producer, director and screenplay writer Bernd Eichinger, who produced well-known films "The Neverending Story" and "Downfall," has died. He was 61.

Film production firm Constantin Film AG said in a statement Tuesday that Eichinger suffered a deadly heart attack Monday night during a dinner with family and friends in Los Angeles.

One of Eichinger's recent successful productions was "Downfall," for which he also wrote the screenplay. The movie depicts the last days of Nazi Germany in Adolf Hitler's bunker and was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005.

Eichinger was a major Constantin shareholder and one of the firm's leading executives.

He also produced "The Name of the Rose" and "The House of the Spirits."

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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