Amos Poe Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Amos Poe, the director, screenwriter and pioneer of the "No Wave" movement of experimental, do-it-yourself filmmaking in New York City in the late 1970s and early '80s, has died. He was 76. Poe was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2022 and died Thursday on Christmas Day, his wife, Claudia Summers, wrote on Instagram. Poe helped document the punk explosion in downtown Manhattan with his most notable work, The Blank Generation (1976), made in collaboration with frequent collaborator Ivan Král. With footage shot in clubs including CBGB and Max's Kansas City, the raw film captured the likes of such rising stars as Patti Smith, Blondie, The Ramones, Richard Hell's Television, Talking Heads, David Johansen's New York Dolls and The Shirts. Related Stories Lifestyle Imani Smith, Former 'Lion King' Broadway Actress, Dies in Alleged Homicide at 26 TV Pat Finn, 'The Middle' Actor and Second City Alum, Dies at 60 Influenced by the French New Wave, the Israel native also wrote and directed Unmade Beds (1976) and The Foreigner (1978), both featuring Blondie's Debbie Harry; Subway Riders (1981); Alphabet City (1984); Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991); and A Walk in the Park (2012). "Our whole aesthetic, or the way we approached it, was that you didn't necessarily have to have the professionalism or the understanding of making films, you had to have the inspiration and the will to put yourself completely into it," he told Reuters in a 2011 interview. Poe directed music videos in the '80s for Run-D.M.C., Anthrax and Van Zant and helmed Just an American Boy (2003), a documentary about musician-songwriter Steve Earle. As The New York Times reported in 2020, Poe lost all ownership of The Blank Generation and several other films to Král in a lawsuit over licensing fees. "I'm trying to be grown up about it," Poe said at the time. "But they're trying to rewrite history." In addition to his wife, whom he married in 2019, survivors also include his daughter, Emily. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up watchmen Tim Blake Nelson Wrote a Novel About Making Superhero Movies, Rooted in Decades of Personal Experience and On-Set Secrets Obituaries Mohammad Bakri, Renowned Palestinian Actor and Filmmaker, Dies at 72 Nicolas Cage 'Madden' Teaser Reveals Nicolas Cage as NFL Legend John Madden Timothée Chalamet Box Office: 'Marty Supreme' Beats 'Anaconda' on Christmas Day, 'Avatar 3' Crossing $600M Globally Rob Reiner Martin Scorsese Remembers Longtime Friend Rob Reiner: "It Breaks My Heart" Heat Vision 'Anaconda' Director Tom Gormican Explains How That Very Last-Minute Franchise Cameo Transpired watchmen Tim Blake Nelson Wrote a Novel About Making Superhero Movies, Rooted in Decades of Personal Experience and On-Set Secrets Obituaries Mohammad Bakri, Renowned Palestinian Actor and Filmmaker, Dies at 72 Nicolas Cage 'Madden' Teaser Reveals Nicolas Cage as NFL Legend John Madden Timothée Chalamet Box Office: 'Marty Supreme' Beats 'Anaconda' on Christmas Day, 'Avatar 3' Crossing $600M Globally Rob Reiner Martin Scorsese Remembers Longtime Friend Rob Reiner: "It Breaks My Heart" Heat Vision 'Anaconda' Director Tom Gormican Explains How That Very Last-Minute Franchise Cameo Transpired