Anime director Osamu Dezaki passed away at 12:35 a.m. on April 17 due to lung cancer. He was 67. A wake will be held on April 20, and a service will be held on April 21 in Tokyo. He is survived by his older brother Satoshi Dezaki, another anime director.

Among the many works Dezaki directed were Ace wo Nerae!, the Air film, Ashita no Joe, Bionic Six, Black Jack The Movie, the Clannad film, Ganba no Boken, Genji Monogatari Sennenki, Golgo 13: The Professional, Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz, Mighty Orbots, Nobody's Boy - Remi, The Rose of Versailles, The Snow Queen, Space Adventure Cobra, Takarajima (Treasure Island), episodes of Mighty Atom/Astro Boy, and several Lupin III television episodes and specials. He developed a unique style of direction that included dramatic freeze-frames, split-screens, and lighting effects in pivotal scenes.

He was born in Tokyo in 1943, and he debuted as a manga artist when he was still in high school. In 1963, he joined Mushi Productions, the studio founded by manga and anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka, and he made his directorial debut with Ashita no Joe in 1970. Dezaki and Masao Maruyama co-founded the anime studio Madhouse in 1972, and Dezaki and frequent character design collaborator Akio Sugino then co-founded Studio Annapuru.

Source: Sankei, Yomiuri Shimbun, animeanime.jp

Update: More background information added.