Producer and director Paltrow dies at 58

ROME -- Producer and director Bruce Paltrow, whose daughter, actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who she once said was the "smartest person I've ever known," has died in Italy. He was 58.\nPaltrow, who was the husband of actress Blythe Danner, was known for the quirky karaoke road movie "Duets" (2000) and the TV hospital drama "St. Elsewhere."\nA U.S. diplomatic official said on condition of anonymity that Paltrow died in Rome, and that the American Embassy was informed of the death Thursday.\n"The consular section of the embassy was contacted by the hospital where Mr. Paltrow died. It is the embassy's responsibility to help with the return of the remains," the official said, adding no further details.\nThe New York-born Paltrow suffered a heart attack and died at a Rome hospital before dawn Wednesday, the Entertainment Tonight television program reported earlier.\nPaltrow, who had been battling throat cancer, traveled from his Los Angeles home to Italy to celebrate his daughter's 30th birthday last week. They were staying in a villa in Cetona, a town near Siena in Tuscany, a film industry source said.\nHe had made several public appearances in Italy in the last week, including at the Italian premiere of the film "Minority Report," starring Tom Cruise.\nIn "Duets," which Bruce Paltrow directed and co-produced, Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars as a Vegas showgirl who hits the highway with her long-lost dad, a karaoke hustler played by pop singer Huey Lewis.\nIn the original script, her character did not sing, but her father added it to the story.\n"I wrote it in because I felt it was essential for the character to sing," Bruce Paltrow said at the time. "I thought it would be a way for her to connect with her father. And I knew how well Gwyneth could sing. When she and her mother sing together, you just can't believe it."\nGwyneth Paltrow, an Oscar winner for "Shakespeare in Love," said she saw it as an advantage taking direction from her father.\n"I think he's the smartest person I've ever known in my life," she had said. "And also he's my Dad. I thought, maybe I'll work and get spoiled at the same time."\nWhen she received her Oscar, Gwyneth Paltrow referred to her ties with her parents and her grandparents. Shaking slightly and stammering at times as she accepted the Oscar from Jack Nicholson, Gwyneth Paltrow thanked everyone from her "Grandpa Buster" to her co-star Joseph Fiennes.\n"I would not have been able to play this role had I not understood love of a tremendous magnitude and for that I thank my family," she said.\nFor television, Bruce Paltrow produced and directed episodes of the hospital drama "St. Elsewhere," directed an episode of the show "Homicide: Life on the Street," and wrote, produced and directed "The White Shadow" (1978), about a former basketball player who coaches a mostly black high school team.\nHe is also survived by his son, film director Jake Paltrow. Funeral arrangements were not immediately known.