Ettore Scola was a writer and director best known for his 1977 film We All Loved Each Other So Much, which followed the story of three friends fighting the Nazis in 1944 Italy.

He's also known for the film A Special Day, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni as two neighbors who meet during Hitler’s 1938 visit to Italy. The movie was nominated for two Oscars, for best actor in a leading role and best foreign language film, the latter category winning at the Golden Globes.

Scola started out as a screenwriter, earning his first credit in 1953. The following year Two Nights with Cleopatra was released, starring Loren in the title role; followed by An American in Rome; The Devil in Love, with Mickey Rooney; Anyone Can Play, with Ursula Andress; My Name Is Rocco Papaleo, with Mastroianni and Lauren Hutton; Macaroni, with Jack Lemmon and Mastroianni; and Unfair Competition, with Gérard Depardieu.

Scola also contributed to television, including a 1996 television movie adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, and a 2005 episode of PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center, titled “American Songbook – Passion,” which was staged from Scola’s 1981 adaptation, Passione d’amore.

In 1976, Scola won best director honors at the Cannes Film Festival for Brutti, Sporchi, Cattivi, known in the U.S. as Ugly, Dirty and Bad.

Scola died January 19, 2016, in Rome, Lazio, Italy. He was 84.