UK actor David Hemmings, best known as the fashion photographer in Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic portrait of Swinging London, Blow-up, has died aged 62.

The actor, whose recent credits include Gangs Of New York, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Last Orders and Gladiator, in which he played the master of the games Cassius, had a heart attack while filming in Romania. He had apparently just finished his final shots of the day and was going back to his dressing room. Paramedics tried to treat him on the scene but were unable to revive him.

“Sadly, whilst filming in Romania, David Hemmings collapsed suddenly and died of a heart attack,” said a statement from agent Liz Nelson. “As always, he was accompanied by his wife Lucy.”

Hemmings was about to appear opposite John Malkovich in Colour Me Kubrick, based on the true story of a man pretending to be director Stanley Kubrick.

In a varied career, Hemmings was also a founder of the Hemdale corporation with manager John Daly. Along with his sixties roles in films such as Barbarella, he directed films including Just A Gigolo, with David Bowie and Kim Novak. In the seventies, he directed a series of TV shows including The A-Team, Magnum PI and Quantum Leap.

“People thought I was dead,” he memorably told one reporter. “But I wasn’t. I was just directing The A-Team.”