Volker Schlöndorff of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman", starring Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman and John Malkovich as Biff. Both actors won Emmys for their performances and Schlöndorff was nominated for an Emmy for his direction. The film premiered on television in 1985 and was released theatrically throughout Europe over the following years. Schlöndorff followed this with another TV movie in the US, "A Gathering of Old Men", based on the novel of the same name by Ernest J. Gaines. The film stars Richard Widmark, Holly Hunter and Lou Gossett Jr. and concerns racial discrimination in 1970s Louisiana. Schlöndorff returned to
George Costigan Finn and a second is imminent. In the theatre, he created the role of Mickey Johnstone in Willy Russell's musical "Blood Brothers", originally at the Liverpool Playhouse, and later at the Lyric Theatre, London. He most recently played the role of Estragon in Samuel Beckett's play "Waiting for Godot" at the Manchester Library Theatre for three weeks from 16 February to 8 March 2008, and played Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" at York Theatre Royal in November 2008. In December 2009, it was announced that he is to join "Emmerdale" as a friend of Rodney Blackstock.