John Schlesinger

John Schlesinger

Birthdate
February 16, 1926 (98 years old)
Place of Birth
London, England, UK
Date of Death
July 25, 2003
Known For
Directing

Details

Birthdate
February 16, 1926 (98 years old)
Place of Birth
London, England, UK
Date of Death
July 25, 2003
Known For
Directing

Biography

John Richard Schlesinger, CBE, was an English film and stage director, and actor. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for Midnight Cowboy, and was nominated for two other films (Darling and Sunday Bloody Sunday).

Schlesinger was born in London, into a middle class Jewish family. His acting career began in the 1950s and consisted of supporting roles in British films and television productions. He began his directorial career in 1956 with the short documentary Sunday in the Park about London's Hyde Park. In 1958, Schlesinger created a documentary on Benjamin Britten and the Aldeburgh Festival for the BBC's Monitor TV programme, including rehearsals of the children's opera Noye's Fludde featuring a young Michael Crawford.

By the 1960s, he had virtually given up acting to concentrate on a directing career, and another of his earlier directorial efforts, the British Transport Films' documentary Terminus (1961), gained a Venice Film Festival Gold Lion and a British Academy Award. His first two fiction films, A Kind of Loving (1962) and Billy Liar (1963) were set in the North of England. A Kind of Loving won the Golden Bear award at the 12th Berlinale in 1962. His third feature film, Darling (1965), tartly described the modern, urban way of life in London and was one of the first films about 'swinging London'. Schlesinger's next film was the period drama Far from the Madding Crowd (1967), an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's popular novel accentuated by beautiful English country locations. Both films (and Billy Liar) featured Julie Christie as the female lead.

Schlesinger's next film, Midnight Cowboy (1969), was internationally acclaimed. A story of two hustlers living on the fringe in the bad side of New York City, it was Schlesinger's first film shot in the US, and it won Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture. During the 1970s, he made an array of films that were mainly about loners, losers and people outside the clean world, such as Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), The Day of the Locust (1975), Marathon Man (1976) and Yanks (1979). Later, came the major box office and critical failure of Honky Tonk Freeway (1981), followed by films that attracted mixed responses from the public

From 1973, he was an associate director of the Royal National Theatre, where he produced George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House (1975). He also directed several operas, beginning with Les contes d'Hoffmann (1980) and Der Rosenkavalier (1984), both at Covent Garden. Schlesinger was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to film in 1970. In 2003, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.

John Schlesinger's LGBTQ+ Titles

Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy
Director
The Celluloid Closet
The Celluloid Closet
Self
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Director
The Lost Language of Cranes
The Lost Language of Cranes
Derek Moulthorp

Acting (28)

1998
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs as Self
1996
The Twilight of the Golds as Dr. Adrian Lodge
1996
1993
Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties as Self (2 episodes)
1992
The Lost Language of Cranes as Derek Moulthorp
1990
Pacific Heights as Man in Elevator (uncredited)
1990
Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey as Self
1976
The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People as Self
1974
Flick Flack (1 episode)
1973
Visions of Eight as Narrator
1973
The Big Screen as Self
1969
The Crowd Around the Cowboy as Self
1967
Location: Far from the Madding Crowd as Himself
1965
Darling as Theatre Director (uncredited)
1963
Billy Liar as Officer in Dream (uncredited)
1961
Terminus as Passenger (uncredited)
1958
Stormy Crossing as Mechanic
1958
Ivanhoe as Jack Ludlow (1 episode)
1957
Brothers in Law as Assize Court Solicitor
1956
The Battle of the River Plate as Lieutenant, Graf Spee (uncredited)
1956
The Buccaneers as Pigtail (1 episode)
1956
The Last Man to Hang as Dr. Goldfinger
1956
Colonel March of Scotland Yard as Dutch Cook (1 episode)
1955
The Adventures of Robin Hood as Alan-a-Dale (1 episode)
1955
The Adventures of Robin Hood as Hale (1 episode)
1954
The Divided Heart as Ticket Collector
1949
Black Legend as The Judge
1944
Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee (1 episode)

Directing (32)

2016
The ROH Live: The Tales of Hoffmann • Director
• Director
2000
The Next Best Thing • Director
• Director
1998
The Tale of Sweeney Todd • Director
• Director
1996
Eye for an Eye • Director
• Director
1995
Cold Comfort Farm • Director
• Director
1993
The Innocent • Director
• Director
1991
A Question of Attribution • Director
• Director
1990
Pacific Heights • Director
• Director
1990
Verdi: Un ballo in maschera • Director
• Director
1988
Madame Sousatzka • Director
• Director
1987
The Believers • Director
• Director
1985
Der Rosenkavalier • Director
• Director
1985
The Falcon and the Snowman • Director
• Director
1983
An Englishman Abroad • Director
• Director
1983
Separate Tables • Director
• Director
1981
Les Contes d'Hoffmann • Director
• Director
1981
Honky Tonk Freeway • Director
• Director
1979
Yanks • Director
• Director
1976
Marathon Man • Director
• Director
1975
The Day of the Locust • Director
• Director
1973
Visions of Eight • Director
• Director
1971
• Director
1969
Midnight Cowboy • Director
• Director
1967
Far from the Madding Crowd • Director
• Director
1965
Darling • Director
• Director
1963
Billy Liar • Director
• Director
1962
A Kind of Loving • Director
• Director
1961
Terminus • Director
• Director
1957
Wakes Week in Blackburn • Director
• Director
1956
Sunday in the Park • Director
• Director
1952
The Starfish • Director
• Director
1949
Black Legend • Director
• Director

Production (4)

1987
The Believers • Producer
• Producer
1985
The Falcon and the Snowman • Producer
• Producer
1956
Sunday in the Park • Producer
• Producer
1949
Black Legend • Producer
• Producer

Writing (5)

1988
Madame Sousatzka • Screenplay
• Screenplay
1965
Darling • Idea
• Idea
1961
Terminus • Writer
• Writer
1952
The Starfish • Writer
• Writer
1949
Black Legend • Writer
• Writer

Camera (2)

1956
Sunday in the Park • Director of Photography
• Director of Photography
1952
The Starfish • Director of Photography
• Director of Photography