John Schlesinger

John Schlesinger (born John Richard Schlesinger) was born on February 16, 1926 in London, England, UK. He was born to a pediatrician and grew up in Hampstead as the eldest of five children.  He had a brother, Roger and a sister, Hillary.   He died at 5:30 am on July 25th, 2003 at Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, Ca, US. He is survived by his companion, Michael Childers, his brother, Roger,  and sister, Hilary.

His father played the cello his mother played the violin and John was an accomplished pianist in his childhood, music was always a big part of the Schlesinger home. And the Egyptian Hall magic shows fascinated him, he was somewhat of a magician after that and asked for conjuring tricks on every birthday and Christmas for years and years after that show.  

Schlesinger was sent away to school at nine years old.  Also the same year he received his first camera, a Box Brownie.  The school had a film society which he joined.  He made his first film when he was Eleven years old for school, about school, the masters and trips to the seaside.  Schlesinger started acting at the age of about thirteen or fourteen, he says he played a very good  Viola in his school's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.  He was also very interested in photography and for a while made his living doing so by photographing actors and typecasting them.  

Schlesinger was in the army, the Royal Engineers during World War II, he was an architectural draftsman and he even did his "conjuring" in the combined services entertainment unit.  After his duty in the army John studied English Literature at Balliol College, Oxford in 1947 and joined the Oxford University Dramatic Society.    He recalls that he wasn't a very good actor, though he made a bit of a living at the craft.  He felt that the experience never really took him, never stretched him.  

His next step was television.  He learned a good deal from his work in TV.  He had to learn to move and work quickly, to rapidly transfer his thoughts into the medium.   He also learned to fail.  Losing a gig, The Tonight Program, due to his desire to control everything within his reach.

Schlesinger had always been most interested in the human condition.  He always felt that he wanted to illuminate that human experience in his filmmaking, never to preach really but to show the experience from a different perspective, he liked to focus on those persons living on the fringes of society, but always with a sense of tolerance.

He lived in Palm Springs until his death on July 25th, 2003

 

 

Film Director

Next Best Thing, The~2000

Eye for an Eye ~1996

Cold Comfort Farm ~1995

Innocent, The ~1993

Pacific Heights ~1990

Madame Sousatzka~1988

Believers, The ~1987

Falcon and the Snowman, The ~1985

Honky Tonk Freeway ~1981

Yanks ~1979

Marathon Man ~1976

Day of the Locust, The ~1975

Visions of Eight ~1973 (segment "Longest, The")

Sunday Bloody Sunday ~1971

Midnight Cowboy ~1969

Far from the Madding Crowd ~1967

Darling ~1965

Billy Liar ~1963

Kind of Loving, A ~1962

Guns of Navarone (Publicity Films)~1961

Terminus ~1961

Starfish, The~1950

Black Legend~1948

 

Film Actor

Celluloid Closet, The~1996 - Himself/interviewee

Pacific Heights ~1990 (uncredited) - Man in Elevator (cameo)

Seven Thunders ~1957

Stormy Crossing ~1957 - Tim, garage mechanic

Brothers in Law ~1957 - Assize Court Solicitor

Last Man to Hang, The ~1956 - Dr. Goldfinger

Battle of the River Plate, The ~1956 - Prisoner (first lieutenant) on Graf Spee

Oh... Rosalinda!! ~1955 - Gentleman

Divided Heart, The ~1954 - Ticket collector

Single-Handed ~1953

 

TV Director

Tale of Sweeney Todd, The ~1998

Question of Attribution, A ~1992

Englishman Abroad, An ~1983

Separate Tables ~1983

Days in the Trees ~1967

Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years~1961 (partial director)

Benjamin Britten at Aldeburgh~1959

A Study of Three Painters~1961

Italian opera~1960

Four Just Men, The~1959 (second unit director)

Monitor ~1958

Tonight~1957

 

TV Actor

Twilight of the Golds, The ~1997  - Dr. Adrian Lodge

Lost Language of Cranes, The ~1991  - Derek

Brothers-in-Law ~1985

Ivanhoe~1958 - 

Robin Hood~1955 - 

 

Commercials

Black Magic chocolates

Danish bacon

Polo Mints

Stork Margarine

Ad for John Major and the Conservative campaign

Awards, Honors and Nominations

Academy Awards

Nom 1972 Oscar Best Director for Sunday Bloody Sunday

Rec'd 1970 Oscar Best Director for Midnight Cowboy (accepted by Jon Voight)

Nom 1966 Oscar Best Director for Darling

BAFTA Awards

Won 1996 Academy Fellowship

Won 1992 BAFTA TV Award Best Single Drama for: Question of Attribution, A Shared

Rec'd 1984 BAFTA TV Award Best Single Drama for Englishman Abroad, An

Nom 1980 BAFTA Film Award Best Direction for: Yanks

Rec'd 1972 BAFTA Film Award Best Direction for Sunday Bloody Sunday

Rec'd 1970 BAFTA Film Award Best Direction for: Midnight Cowboy

Nom 1966 BAFTA Film Award Best British Film for Darling

Rec'd 1962 BAFTA Film Award Best Short Film for Terminus

Berlin International Film Festival

Rec'd 1969 OCIC Award for Midnight Cowboy

Nom 1969 Golden Berlin Bear for Midnight Cowboy

Rec'd 1962 Golden Berlin Bear for: Kind of Loving, A

Bodil Awards

Rec'd 1970 Bodil Best Non-European Film (Bedste ikke-europæiske film) for Midnight Cowboy

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards

Rec'd 1984 Broadcasting Press Guild Award Best Single Drama for Englishman Abroad, An Shared

Cameraimage

Rec'd 1996 Special Award Film Direction with a Special Visual Sensitivity

Cinequest San Jose Film Festival

Rec'd 1998 Maverick Tribute Award

David di Donatello Awards

Rec'd 1980 European David for Yanks

Directors Guild of America

Nom 1972 DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for Sunday Bloody Sunday

Rec'd 1970 DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: Midnight Cowboy Shared

Evening Standard British Film Awards

Rec'd 1981 Evening Standard British Film Award Best Film for Yanks

Golden Globes

Nom 1977 Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for Marathon Man

Nom 1970 Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: Midnight Cowboy

Nom 1966 Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Director for Darling

Hamptons International Film Festival

Rec'd 1995 Distinguished Achievement Award

Hollywood Film Festival 

Rec'd 1999 Hollywood Discovery Award Outstanding Achievement in Directing

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists

Rec'd 1970 Silver Ribbon Best Director - Foreign Film (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) for Midnight Cowboy

Laurel Awards

Nom 1971Golden Laurel Best Director 8th place.

Moscow International Film Festival

Nom 1965 Grand Prix for Darling

National Board of Review

Rec'd 1979 NBR Award Best Director for Yanks

Rec'd 1966 NBR Award Best Director for Darling

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

Rec'd 1965 NYFCC Award Best Director for Darling

Razzie Awards

Nom 2001 Razzie Award Worst Director for Next Best Thing, The

Venice Film Festival

Nom 1963 Golden Lion for: Billy Liar

 

Theater

True West~1980 - (National Theatre, London, UK)

Julius Caesar~1977 - (National Theatre, London, UK)

Heartbreak House~1975 (National Theatre, London, UK)

I and Albert~1972 - (Piccadilly Theatre, London, UK)

Days in the Trees~1966 - (Royal Shakespeare Company, London, UK)

Timon of Athens~1965 - (Royal Shakespeare Company, London, UK)

No, Why~1964 - (Royal Shakespeare Company, London, UK)

Morning Becomes Electra~1955 - 

Alchemist, The~1954/55 - 

Twelfth Night~1940 - Viola (he was 13 years old)

 

Opera

Revival of Les contes D'Hoffmann~1991 (Royal Opera House, London, UK)

Revival of Un Ballo in Maschera~1990 (Salzburg Festival, Austria)

Un Ballo in Maschera~1989 (Salzburg Festival, Austria)

der Rosenkavalier~1984 (Royal Opera House, London, UK)

Revival of Les Contes D'Hoffmann~1981  (Royal Opera House, London, UK)

Les Contes D'Hoffmann~1980 (Royal Opera House, London, UK)

 

Miscellany

Worked on Paul McCartney's music video, "Little Willow"

 

Was honored with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1970. 

 

His film Midnight Cowboy was the only X-rated film ever to have won an Academy Award for best picture. (with relaxing standards this X-rating was later changed to an "R")

 

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