Robert Snyder; filmmaker won Oscar for documentary

LOS ANGELES -- Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Robert Snyder, whose subjects included Michelangelo and his own father-in-law, futurist R. Buckminster Fuller, died Sunday at his home here. He was 88.

Mr. Snyder won an Academy Award in 1950 as producer of "The Titan: Story of Michelangelo." He was nominated again in 1958 for the insect documentary "The Hidden World," which was narrated by Gregory Peck. A native of Brooklyn, Mr. Snyder produced or directed more than a half-dozen biographical documentaries, tackling subjects as varied as author Henry Miller and cellist Pablo Casals.

His father-in-law, Fuller, was the subject of two of his works, 1968's "Buckminster Fuller on Spaceship Earth" and, three years later, "The World of Buckminster Fuller."

Mr. Snyder also created works that appeared on PBS, including the 12-part series "Looking at Modern Art" and another take on the genius behind the Sistine Chapel, "Michelangelo: Self-Portrait."