Director John Frankenheimer, best known for his intense 1962 political drama The Manchurian Candidate, died Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 72.

Daughter Kristi Frankenheimer told Reuters her father died following a stroke at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where he had undergone spinal surgery.

Along with The Manchurian Candidate, Frankenheimer's other top film credits included the 1962 The Birdman of Alcatraz and the 1964 Seven Days in May, both starring Burt Lancaster.

"In his time, which I guess you'd say was the 1960s, Frankenheimer worked with the top writers, producers and actors in a series of films that dealt with issues that were just on top of the moment--things that were facing us all," movie critic Leonard Maltin reportedly told KNX radio in Los Angeles.

Frankenheimer was also an acclaimed television director, winning four Emmys for best director during the 1990s for the television miniseries George Wallace (1998), Andersonville (1996), The Burning Season (1995) and Against the Wall (1994).