Super Size Me director Morgan Spurlock dies aged 53

Documentary director Morgan Spurlock has passed away following a private battle with cancer.

The award-winning documentary filmmaker passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends on Thursday 23 May in New York from complications of cancer.

"It was a sad day, as we said goodbye to my brother Morgan," said Craig Spurlock, who worked with him on several projects. "Morgan gave so much through his art, ideas, and generosity. The world has lost a true creative genius and a special man. I am so proud to have worked together with him."

Spurlock became famous in 2004 with the release of his ground-breaking, headline-grabbing documentary Super Size Me, in which he ate nothing but McDonald's for 30 days as an experiment to see how the fast-food diet affected his health.

Super Size Me earned an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

While it remained his most famous project, Spurlock also directed Mansome, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Where In the World Is Osama Bin Laden? and Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! He also ventured into the concert documentary space by helming One Direction: This Is Us in 2013.

In television, he hosted and executive produced the reality shows 30 Days and 7 Deadly Sins and fronted the CNN documentary series Morgan Spurlock Inside Man.

Spurlock is survived by his sons Laken and Kellen, his brothers Craig and Barry, and his parents Phyllis and Ben.