Anthony Pelissier
Harry Anthony Compton Pelissier (born July 27, 1912 in London-Barnet , † April 2, 1988 in Eastbourne , United Kingdom ) was a British theater actor , screenwriter , film director , documentary filmmaker and television producer.
Live and act
stage
As the son of the actress Fay Compton, who was not even 18 when he was born, and the versatile stage creator HG Pelissier (1874–1913), Pelissier sniffed the theater from an early age and was already on stage as a teenager. Anthony became a half-orphan at the age of one. In the course of the 1930s, the first successes emerged with roles in the Noël Coward pieces Tonight at 8.30 (1935/36) and Set to Music (1939). During this time he also made guest appearances on Broadway in New York.
Movie and TV
In 1937 Pelissier began to work as a writer (film debut Over the Moon ), in 1949 Pelissier made his directorial debut. His first film The History of Polly, based on a novel by HG Wells, was a moderate success, as was his next production, The Rocking Horse Winner, based on a short story by DH Lawrence . Two years later, in 1951, Pelissier was involved in an episode of the ambitious William Somerset Maugham film adaptation of Dakapo . However, Pelissier's decline began quickly and after 1953 he could no longer achieve commercial success. In 1955 he switched to television, most recently in the second half of the 1960s, Anthony Pelissier only made documentaries. For a time he was also the head of the experimental film department of the BBC .
Private
Pelissier was married a total of four times, the last two decades of his life the actress Ursula Howells was his wife. Actress Tracy Reed came from his first marriage to colleague Penelope Dudley-Ward , who took the surname of her adoptive father, the famous film director Carol Reed . Pelissier had a total of four children.
Filmography
- 1937: Over the Moon (screenplay) (WP: 1939)
- 1945: Perfect Strangers (screenplay)
- 1949: The History of Mr. Polly (Writer, Director)
- 1949: The Rocking Horse Winner (Writer, Director)
- 1951: Night Without Stars (Director)
- 1951: Dakapo (Encore)
- 1952: Meet Me Tonight (Director)
- 1953: Your First Disappointment (Personal Affair) (Director)
- 1953: Meet Mr. Lucifer
- 1955: The Man Who Stroked Chats (TV short film, director, screenplay, production)
- 1956: Tiger in the Smoke (screenplay)
- 1956: The Valiant (TV short film, screenplay, production)
- 1959: The Torrents of Spring (TV movie, screenplay, production)
- 1959: Marie (TV film, production)
- 1960: Good as Gold (short film, production)
- 1965: Voyage North (short documentary, director)
- 1968: The Risk Takers (short documentary, director)
- 1970: Portrait of a People: Impressions of Britain (short documentary, director)
literature
- Ephraim Katz : The Film Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. Revised by Fred Klein and Ronald Dean Nolen. New York 2001, p. 1071
Web links
- Obituary in The New York Times, April 7, 1988
- Anthony Pelissier in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Anthony Pelissier in the Internet Broadway Database
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pelissier, Anthony |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pelissier, Harry Anthony Compton (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British theater actor, screenwriter, film and television director, documentary filmmaker and television producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 27, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London Barnet |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 2nd, 1988 |
| Place of death | Eastbourne , UK |