John Schlesinger

John Schlesinger

Born: February 16, 1926
Died: July 25, 2003
in London, England, UK
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.

Movies for John Schlesinger...

Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
Title: Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1998
Type: Movie
Ekchart Schmidt examines the machinery behind the dream factory; the Hollywood myth is unmasked. How does the studio industry work? What role does marketing and the hype surrounding the stars play?
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The Twilight of the Golds
Title: The Twilight of the Golds
Character: Dr. Adrian Lodge
Released: October 10, 1996
Type: Movie
When Suzanne Stein has a genetic analysis done on her unborn child, she discovers that although she has a healthy baby, the child will most likely be born gay, like her brother, David. She must decide whether to keep the child, or to have an abortion. Her family enters a crisis about love and acceptance as she makes this difficult choice.
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The Celluloid Closet
Title: The Celluloid Closet
Character: Self
Released: January 30, 1996
Type: Movie
This documentary highlights the historical contexts that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have occupied in cinema history, and shows the evolution of the entertainment industry's role in shaping perceptions of LGBT figures. The issues addressed include secrecy – which initially defined homosexuality – as well as the demonization of the homosexual community with the advent of AIDS, and finally the shift toward acceptance and positivity in the modern era.
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Title: Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties
Character: Self
Released: September 5, 1993
Type: TV
Five programmes that trace a remarkable decade in British film-making through interviews with its stars and directors.
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The Lost Language of Cranes
Title: The Lost Language of Cranes
Character: Derek Moulthorp
Released: February 9, 1992
Type: Movie
When a young gay man comes out of the closet, his friends support him, but when he comes out to his parents, he stirs up a wealth of hidden feelings and secrets in their relationship.
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Pacific Heights
Title: Pacific Heights
Character: Man in Elevator (uncredited)
Released: September 28, 1990
Type: Movie
A couple works hard to renovate their dream house and become landlords to pay for it. Unfortunately one of their tenants has plans of his own.
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Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey
Title: Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey
Character: Self
Released: January 19, 1990
Type: Movie
Documentary is about the life and work of American screenwriter Waldo Salt who won two Academy Awards and was put on the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s. The story is told through interviews with collaborators and friends such as Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jon Voight, John Schlesinger and with clips from Salt's films, chiefly Midnight Cowboy.
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The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
Title: The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People
Character: Self
Released: October 6, 1976
Type: Movie
Producer Robert Evans dominates with his trademark promotional style, but Schlesinger gets a short time on camera (one of his few available interviews about the film), and Hoffman has even more. A highlight is the celebration of Olivier's final shooting day, complete with speeches and a toast.
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Title: Flick Flack
Released: January 7, 1974
Type: TV
Flick Flack was a Canadian television series broadcast by Global Television Network in 1974. The series featured interviews with motion picture industry personalities combined with excerpts from films. William Shatner was the regular series host. "It was a TV show produced for Canadian TV. A handful of shows that aired every fortnight for a few months in the 70’s." @WilliamShatner · Sep 15, 2020
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Visions of Eight
Title: Visions of Eight
Character: Narrator
Released: October 6, 1973
Type: Movie
Eight acclaimed filmmakers bring their unique and differing perspectives to the 1972 Summer Olympic Games held in Munich. The segments include Lelouch's take on Olympic losers and their struggle to remain dignified even in the face of bitter disappointment and defeat; Zetterling's dramatic exploration of the world of weightlifting; and Pfleghar's piece on young Russian gymnast Ludmilla Tourischev's majestic performance on the uneven bars.
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The Big Screen
Title: The Big Screen
Character: Self
Released: February 20, 1973
Type: Movie
Two of Britain's leading film directors - John Schlesinger and Gerald Thomas - share the anxiety, hopes and risks experienced by those involved with the movie industry. The Big Screen follows the production of four British films: the eighth James Bond film Live and Let Die, The Optimists of Nine Elms, science fiction-thriller The Final Programme and The 14. Actors Peter Sellers, David Hemmings, Jon Finch, Roger Moore and Jenny Runacre are among those seen at work.
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The Crowd Around the Cowboy
Title: The Crowd Around the Cowboy
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1969
Type: Movie
A short documentary made on location during the filming of John Schlesinger's 1969 film "Midnight Cowboy."
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Darling
Title: Darling
Character: Theatre Director (uncredited)
Released: August 3, 1965
Type: Movie
The swinging London, early sixties. Beautiful but shallow, Diana Scott is a professional advertising model, a failed actress, a vocationally bored woman, who toys with the affections of several men while gaining fame and fortune.
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Billy Liar
Title: Billy Liar
Character: Officer in Dream (uncredited)
Released: August 15, 1963
Type: Movie
A young Englishman dreams of escaping from his working class family and dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. A number of indiscretions cause him to lie in order to avoid the penalties. His life turns into a mess and he has an opportunity to run away and leave it all behind.
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Terminus
Title: Terminus
Character: Passenger (uncredited)
Released: December 1, 1961
Type: Movie
This fly on the wall-style documentary from 1961 won an Oscar for best documentary, and shows the changing patterns of human emotions during 24 hours in the life of Waterloo Station.
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Stormy Crossing
Title: Stormy Crossing
Character: Mechanic
Released: August 1, 1958
Type: Movie
After murdering his lover, cross-channel swimmer Joy Webster, Derek Bond attempts to do same to her other boyfriend, Sheldon Lawrence. John Ireland plays an Interpol detective who stems Bond's homicidal hijinks. Black Tide was produced by Monty Berman in his pre-Saint days.
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Title: Ivanhoe
Character: Jack Ludlow
Released: January 5, 1958
Type: TV
Ivanhoe is a British television series first shown on ITV in 1958-59. The show features Roger Moore in his first starring role, as Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in a series of adventures aimed at a children's audience. The characters were drawn loosely from Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel.
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Brothers in Law
Title: Brothers in Law
Character: Assize Court Solicitor
Released: March 4, 1957
Type: Movie
Roger Thursby is an overly keen, newly-qualified barrister who rubs his fellow barristers up the wrong way. When he is thrown in at the deep-end, with a particularly hot-tempered judge and tricky case, Thursby learns how to prove himself not only to the judge and fellow barristers but also to the public gallery.
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The Battle of the River Plate
Title: The Battle of the River Plate
Character: Lieutenant, Graf Spee (uncredited)
Released: October 30, 1956
Type: Movie
In the early years of the World War II, the Royal Navy is fighting a desperate battle to keep the Atlantic convoy routes open to supply the British Isles, facing the great danger posed by the many German warships, such as the Admiral Graf Spee, which are scouring the ocean for cargo ships to sink.
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Title: The Buccaneers
Character: Pigtail
Released: September 19, 1956
Type: TV
The adventures of privateer Captain Dan Tempest and his crew of former pirates as they make their way across the seven seas in The Sultana.
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The Last Man to Hang
Title: The Last Man to Hang
Character: Dr. Goldfinger
Released: August 1, 1956
Type: Movie
A man is tried for the murder of his neurotic wife by means of a sedative overdose.
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Title: Colonel March of Scotland Yard
Character: Dutch Cook
Released: February 22, 1956
Type: TV
Colonel March of The Department of Queer Complaints investigates unusual cases, locked-room murders, and mysteries concerning the supernatural.
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Title: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Character: Hale
Released: September 26, 1955
Type: TV
The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.
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Title: The Adventures of Robin Hood
Character: Alan-a-Dale
Released: September 26, 1955
Type: TV
The legendary character Robin Hood and his band of merry men in Sherwood Forest and the surrounding vicinity. While some episodes dramatised the traditional Robin Hood tales, most episodes were original dramas created by the show's writers and producers.
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The Divided Heart
Title: The Divided Heart
Character: Ticket Collector
Released: November 9, 1954
Type: Movie
During World War II, a German woman, Inga, goes missing and is presumed dead. Her infant son is placed in an orphanage where, years later, he's adopted by a childless couple. The adoptive parents' happiness is shattered when Inga reappears and insists on custody of her son.