Rep: Minghella died after hemorrhage

LONDON, March 18 (UPI) -- Filmmaker Anthony Minghella, who died Tuesday, suffered a hemorrhage at a London hospital days after an operation for cancer of the tonsils and neck.

"The surgery had gone well and they were very optimistic. But he developed a hemorrhage last night and they were not able to stop it," Minghella's U.S. agent Leslee Dart told the BBC.

Minghella, the director of "The English Patient," "Cold Mountain" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley," died at the age of 54 at about 5 a.m. GMT.

Minghella, who also directed "Breaking and Entering," recently co-wrote and directed the pilot for the HBO/BBC series adaptation of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" novels.

In a 2003 interview with UPI, Minghella acknowledged he had a knack for casting actors just before their careers skyrocket.

"Both with 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' and with 'Cold Mountain' I cast (actors) and then subsequently those actors have had enormous success between my beginning to work with them and the film's coming out," Minghella said, noting the successful careers of Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger and Nicole Kidman as examples. "I've been lucky in that regard to find actors who were just approaching the top of their game."