Film director Ettore Scola, one of the last grand masters of Italian comedy, died on Tuesday at the age of 84, press reports said.

Scola died in Rome's polyclinic, where he had been in a coma since Sunday after being admitted to the hospital's cardiac surgery unit.

A leading figure in Italian cinema for more than three decades, Scola directed unforgettable masterpieces featuring Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Vittorio Gassman and Nino Manfredi.