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John Schlesinger

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: John Richard Schlesinger

(born Feb. 16, 1926, London, Eng. — died July 25, 2003, Palm Springs, Calif., U.S.) British film and theatre director. He worked as an actor before becoming a documentary director for BBC television, where he won praise for his Terminus (1960). His feature films A Kind of Loving (1962) and Billy Liar (1963) were caustic depictions of English urban life. The successful Darling (1965) mocked the shallowness of the jet set, and he followed it with Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). His first American film, Midnight Cowboy (1969), won him an Academy Award. His later films include Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Marathon Man (1976), Madame Sousatzka (1988), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), and The Next Best Thing (2000).

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Dictionary: Schlesinger, John Richard
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1926-2003.

British director whose works include the motion pictures Far From the Madding Crowd (1967) and Midnight Cowboy (1969), which both won Academy Awards.


Director: John Schlesinger
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  • Born: Feb 16, 1926 in London, England
  • Died: Jul 25, 2003 in Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Director, Actor, Writer
  • Active: '50s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Thriller
  • Career Highlights: Darling, Cold Comfort Farm, An Englishman Abroad
  • First Major Screen Credit: A Kind of Loving (1962)

Biography

London-born director John Schlesinger worked steadily in both Hollywood and Britain in films, television, and on the stage. By exploring the complexities of human relationships, some of his films made it possible for later filmmakers to bring controversial subjects into the mainstream. He started making short films as a boy before attending the Uppingham School with the intent to study architecture. In 1943 he was drafted into the British army and ended up in a magic act entertaining the troops abroad. By 1947, he was back in school studying English literature at Balliol College, Oxford, where he was president of the Experimental Theatre Club. Following graduation, he worked as an actor with the Colchester Repertory Company and the Ngaio Marsh Touring Company. He continued making short films and started directing documentaries for the BBC programs Tonight and Monitor. He won a BAFTA award for his debut film Terminus, a chronicle of the Waterloo railway station. His first two feature films, A Kind of Loving and Billy Liar, both received critical praise from the British Academy. They also introduced Schlesinger to his longtime filmmaking allies: producer Joseph Janni, actor Alan Bates, and actress Julie Christie. In 1965 he received international attention and his first Oscar nomination for the drama Darling about the London fashion scene during the mod '60s. After adapting the Thomas Hardy novel Far From the Maddening Crowd, Schlesinger made his first American film, Midnight Cowboy, starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. A compassionate story about friendship, it was also the first X-rated film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It also earned Schlesinger his first Oscar for Best Director. The next year, he was honored with the appointment of Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Back in England, he earned his third Oscar nomination for the psychological drama Sunday, Bloody Sunday. Starring Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, and Murray Head, it was one of the first mainstream films to deal with homosexual themes with sensitivity and perception. During the '70s he continued directing stage productions in between his film work, eventually becoming the associate director of the National Theatre in London. After a few meager successes with the psychological thriller Marathon Man and the war drama Yanks, he moved over to television to make the well-received Separate Tables and An Englishman Abroad. During the late '80s he made the spy film The Falcon and the Snowman and cast Shirley MacLaine in the choice lead role of Madame Sousatzka before making a minor comeback with the comedy Cold Comfort Farm, based on the novel by Stella Gibbons. After bringing the play The Tale of Sweeny Todd to the small screen, he made his last film, The Next Best Thing, starring Madonna and Rupert Everett. Schlesinger died at age 77 in Palm Springs due to complications following a severe stroke. He is survived by photographer Michael Childers, his companion of 36 years. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Wikipedia: John Schlesinger
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John Schlesinger
Born John Richard Schlesinger
February 16, 1926(1926-02-16)
London, England, U.K.
Died July 25, 2003 (aged 77)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.

John Richard Schlesinger, CBE (16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director.

Contents

Early life

Schlesinger was born in London into a middle class Jewish family,[1] the son of Winifred Henrietta (née Regensburg) and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician.[2] After Uppingham School and graduating from Balliol College, Oxford, he worked as an actor.

Career

One of his earliest films, the British Transport Films' documentary Terminus (1960), gained a Venice Film Festival Gold Lion and a British Academy Award. His first two fiction movies, A Kind of Loving (1962) and Billy Liar (1963) were set in the North of England.

His third Darling (1965) described tartly the modern urban way of life in London and was one of the first films about 'swinging London'. Schlesinger's next movie was Far From the Madding Crowd (1967), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's popular novel. Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy (1969) was internationally acclaimed and it won Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

His later films include Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), The Day of the Locust (1975), Marathon Man (1976), Yanks (1979), Pacific Heights (1990), A Question of Attribution (1991), The Innocent (1993) and The Next Best Thing (2000).

Schlesinger also directed Timon of Athens (1965) for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the musical I and Albert (1972) at London's Piccadilly Theatre. From 1973 he was an associate director of the Royal National Theatre.

Openly gay, Schlesinger dealt with homosexuality in Midnight Cowboy, Sunday Bloody Sunday and The Next Best Thing, and two main characters in Marathon Man were at least implicitly gay. Speaking about Midnight Cowboy's unflattering portrayal of homosexuality, he stated that he was against political correctness and the self-censorship it encourages, which would prevent such a film from being made today.

Schlesinger also directed a notable party political broadcast for the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom general election, 1992 which featured Prime Minister John Major returning to Brixton in south London where he had spent his teenage years, which highlighted his humble background, atypical for a Conservative politician. Schlesinger admitted to voting for all three main political parties in the UK at one time or another.

The book and TV series The Glittering Prizes, writer Frederic Raphael, who won the Best Screenwriting Oscar for his work on Schlesinger's film Darling, feature a character believed to be based on Schlesinger.

Death

Schlesinger underwent a quadruple heart bypass in 1998, before suffering a stroke in December 2000. He was taken off life support at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs on July 24, 2003 by his life partner of over 30 years, photographer Michael Childers. Schlesinger died early the following day at the age of 77.

Filmography

References

External links


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Director. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "John Schlesinger" Read more

 

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