Pierre Lacotte, a French ballet choreographer who helped superstar Rudolf Nureyev defect from the Soviet Union, has died aged 91, reports the BBC.
"Our Pierre left us at 4:00 am," said his wife, retired principal dancer Ghislaine Thesmar.
Lacotte helped Nureyev escape KGB agents in Paris and seek asylum at the capital's Le Bourget airport in 1961.
His role in the famous defection was recounted in a 2018 biopic titled The White Crow directed by Ralph Fiennes.
Ms Thesmar said her husband had died after a cut became septic.
Lacotte started his career at the Paris Opera Ballet as a teenager and later turned his attention to the revival of forgotten 19th Century productions.
In 1961, he became friends with Nureyev while he was on tour in Paris. Lacotte told the BBC in 2012 that he accompanied Nureyev on several tours of the city's restaurants, bars and museums.
This angered the KGB agents who were on the trip, and Nureyev was told he was to be sent home.