Robert Wise, the director responsible for The Sound Of Music and The Andromeda Strain has died at the age of 91.

Born in 1914, Wise worked his way up the ranks in film editing before scoring his directorial debut with 1944's The Curse Of The Cat People. Over the course of his career he directed 39 feature films including The Haunting and .

Nominated for many awards, his achievements included four Oscars, two for both West Side Story and The Sound Of Music.

Wise died of heart failure yesterday after being rushed to hospital.