David Lean

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Biography

An important British filmmaker, David Lean was born in Croydon on March 25, 1908 and brought up in a strict Quaker family . In 1999, the British Film Institute compiled a list of the 100 favorite British films of the 20th century. Five by David Lean appeared in the top 30, three of them in the top five.

  • Aliases
  • Dave Lean
  • Active years
  • 83
  • Primary profession
  • Editor·director·writer
  • Country
  • Australia
  • Nationality
  • Australian
  • Gender
  • Male
  • Birth date
  • 25 March 1908
  • Place of birth
  • Croydon
  • Death date
  • 1991-04-16
  • Death age
  • 83
  • Place of death
  • Limehouse
  • Cause of death
  • Natural causes
  • Spouses
  • Kay Walsh·Ann Todd
  • Education
  • Leighton Park School
  • Knows language
  • English language
  • Member of
  • Liberal Party of Australia
  • Parents

Music

Movies

Books

Awards

Trivia

He was honoured with the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award .

According to Richard Schickel , Lean was so wounded by Pauline Kael s and other critics vicious attacks on Ryans Daughter that he didnt direct another picture for 14 years, until A Passage to India .

His third wife, actress Ann Todd, was previously married to his first cousin, Nigel Tangye.

Both Leans first wife, Isabel Lean (born 1908) and his third, actress Ann Todd, were his first cousins.

Originally wanted to direct Empire of the Sun , but passed it on to Steven Spielberg because of advancing years.

He was married six times and at all times briefly, apparently having been unable to maintain a marriage due to his wandering eye. He also declined to discuss his personal life.

Was voted the 34th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 633-639. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company.

Towards the end of his life, he said he would like to have another go at filming Boris Pasternak s "Doctor Zhivago". The prerequisite for remaking the film would be the casting of Julie Christie once again as Lara, but since she would be too old for the role, he wouldnt be able to do it.

Directed 11 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Celia Johnson , Katharine Hepburn , Alec Guinness , Sessue Hayakawa , Peter OToole , Omar Sharif , Tom Courtenay , John Mills , Sarah Miles , Peggy Ashcroft and Judy Davis. Guiness, Mills and Ashcroft won for their performances in one of Leans movies.

From 1986 until his death in 1991, he was working on an adaptation of Joseph Conrad s novel Nostromo. Serge Silberman was producing in conjunction with Columbia Pictures and Lean had written the screenplay with Robert Bolt and Maggie Unsworth. The film was budgeted at $46m and shooting was to have started in March 1991, in Almera and Les Studios de la Victorine in Nice. Dennis Quaid , Isabella Rossellini , Julian Sands , Klaus Maria Brandauer , Irene Papas and Christopher Lambert were to have starred, with cinematographer Alex Thomson and production designer John Box also in place. The score was to have been composed by Maurice Jarre. The budget also contained provision for a replacement director (Guy Hamilton ) to take over should Lean die or his health deteriorate during the shoot. Lean was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 1991 and shooting was postponed from March until May. Lean died in April 1991, before filming could commence.

Peter OToole based his performance in The Stunt Man on Lean.

In his home town of Croydon, South London, there is a cinema named after him in the Croydon Clocktower Arts Centre.

Once screened Lawrence of Arabia with Steven Spielberg. Lean gave Spielberg a "live directors commentary" (as Spielberg put it). Spielberg said it was one of the best moments of his life, learning from a true master. Consequently, Spielberg stated that it helped him make better pictures and that commentary directly influenced every movie he has made since.

According to Sarah Miles , Lean enjoyed pushing his actors to their personal limits and then breaking them, just for his own amusement.

Frequently worked with Alec Guinness. When he recommended that Steven Spielberg direct Empire of the Sun , Spielberg ended up hiring Eve Mavrakis as a translator. Fittingly, Mavrakis would go on to marry Ewan McGregor , who succeeded Guinness in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Expressed an interest in making a film version of the BBC Light Programmes "Journey into Space" SF radio serial.

He was awarded the CBE at the 1973 Queens Honours for his contributions and services to the arts.

He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire at the 1984 Queens Honours for his contributions and services to the arts.

Before his death in 1991, Leans only child Peter, and Peters daughter, tried to reconcile with him on a visit to his home in France, but the attempt ended in anger, and they never spoke again. David Lean had left his first wife when Peter was young, just as Leans own accountant father had left when David was 16.

In a BBC documentary, Steven Spielberg recounted how Lean (by then a personal friend) asked him to approach Warner Brothers on his behalf to persuade them to finance his film of Joseph Conrad s novel Nostromo. Spielberg did this and Warners studio chief, who was also a personal friend of Spielbergs, agreed to fund the movie on a $20m budget. When Spielberg called Lean to give him the good news, Lean told him it wasnt enough and to go back and ask for $30m. A shocked Spielberg did so, but Warners refused to increase the budget. Lean never spoke to Spielberg again.

He directed two Best Picture Academy Award winners: The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia .

Uncle of John Tangye Lean and Lucy Lean.

Has a brother named Rich.

Lead guitarist for the indie rock band "Miroslav"

(January 2007) Fronting San Francisco indie rock band "Sir Salvatore"

Quotes

Actors can be a terrible bore on the set, though I enjoy having dinner,with them.

These American writers really frighten me. They talk so well and write,so badly. I have now worked with five of them and not one has come,along with a big, original idea.

[accepting the Best Director Oscar for Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ],This limey is deeply touched and greatly honoured. Thank you.

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