‘Birds’ actor Rod Taylor dies aged 84: reports

Los Angeles: Australian actor Rod Taylor, famous for his role in Alfred Hitchcock´s iconic 1963 horror movie "The Birds," has died in Los Angeles aged 84, industry media said Thursday.

Taylor, who died of a heart attack Wednesday, according to Variety, was also known for performances in "The Time Machine" and "The Train Robbers."

More recently, Taylor played Britain´s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino´s "Inglourious Basterds."

"The Birds" co-star Tippi Hedren told People magazine: "Rod was a great pal to me and a real strength. We were very, very good friends.
"He was one of the most fun people I have ever met, thoughtful and classy, there was everything good in that man," the 84-year-old added in a statement cited by the weekly.

He died at home surrounded by his family, People said.

Taylor won a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award in 2010 for "Inglourious Basterds," whose cast won the prize for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.

Taylor´s daughter Felicia, a former CNN news correspondent, added in a statement: "My dad loved his work. Being an actor was his passion, calling it an honorable art and something we couldn´t live without.

"He once said: ´I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist,´" she added, cited by People.

The actor is survived by his third wife Carol Kikumura, whom he married in 1980, and by Felicia. (AFP)