Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who chronicled the effects of poor nutrition when for 30 days he solely ate McDonald’s food in “Super Size Me,” has died.
The 53-year-old died Thursday from complications of cancer, NBC News reported.
“It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan,” Spurlock’s brother Craig said. “Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas and generosity. Today the world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him.”
Throughout his professional directing career, Spurlock tackled many sociopolitical issues, the Bush-era War on Terror (“Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden?”) and corporate power (“The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”).
He also directed the 3-D concert film “One Direction: This Is Us,” which was released in 2013.
Film was not his only creative outlet.
He created and hosted “30 Days,” on FX.
The show followed “people as they experimented with crash-course lifestyles like working for minimum wage or living off the power grid,” per NBC News.
But he rose to fame with the 2004 documentary film “Super Size Me” when he ate nothing but hamburgers, fries and other staples from McDonald’s for a month.
He later claimed the experiment affected his mental and physical health.
However, the documentary raised the issue of fast food and the obesity epidemic in America.
“Super Size Me” was nominated for best documentary feature at the Academy Awards in 2005.
He then published a blog in 2017 that damaged his public image.
In “I am Part of the Problem,” he admitted to a pattern of sexual misconduct and infidelities going back several years. He said he was accused of sexual assault in college.
Spurlock also wrote in the blog that he had been the victim of sexual abuse as a boy and teenager, and he had “consistently been drinking since the age of 13.”
Spurlock is survived by his sons Laken and Kallen; his mother Phyllis; his father Ben; brothers Craig and Barry; and his former wives Alexandra Jamieson and Sara Bernstein, according to a statement from his representatives.
