Michael Apted

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Michael Apted (2013)

Michael David Apted , CMG (born February 10, 1941 in Aylesbury , England - † January 7, 2021 in Los Angeles , California ) was a British director of feature and documentary films .

His films Nashville Lady , Gorillas im Nebel, and Nell earned their female leading actresses an Oscar nomination. In 1999 he directed James Bond 007 - The World Is Not Enough, the third Bond film with Pierce Brosnan in the lead role. Apted was best known as a documentary filmmaker through the long-term project Up , with which he documented the lives of 14 Britons through eight films over several decades.

Life

Michael Apted was born in Aylesbury during World War II to Ronald and Frances Apted and later grew up near London . His mother, who Apted later described as a “true socialist”, raised her son as a liberal person.

Since the age of 10 he was able to attend the City of London School on a scholarship. He later studied history and law at the University of Cambridge . There he got to know John Cleese, among others, and Trevor Nunn , Mike Newell and Stephen Frears at student theater performances .

After graduating, Apted completed a six-month training course at the British broadcaster Granada TV , where he stayed for the next seven years. In the documentary Seven Up! over 14 British 7-year-olds, which was created in 1964 under the direction of Paul Almond , Apted was responsible for the selection of the children as researcher. Due to its great success, the film, which was originally not a series, was continued in 1970 with 7 Plus Seven , which Apted also directed for the first time. Apted interviewed the same 14 children who were at a different stage in their lives as teenagers this time. After that, every seven years Apted directed another sequel to the series, which he completed in 2019 with 63 Up .

Over time, he gained recognition as a television director . He filmed eight episodes of the ITV series Coronation Street and staged eleven theater performances for television between 1968 and 1972 as part of the ITV Playhouse series . Since 1970 he has worked as a freelance filmmaker. His first success came in 1974 with the feature film Stardust , which traces the incredible rise of a rock band. His international breakthrough came in 1980 with the biopic Nashville Lady , for which Sissy Spacek received the Oscar for best actress. Gorillas im Nebel (1988) about the zoologist and behavioral scientist Dian Fossey , which Apted directed in 1988 based on a script by Anna Hamilton Phelan with Sigourney Weaver in the lead role, has been nominated for five Academy Awards.

Apted was a versatile filmmaker who is famous for his accurate character drawing. In his films, he did not shy away from subtle social criticism, but this did not harm the success of his films with audiences. His works include films as diverse as Nell (1994), the portrait of a disturbed, neglected young woman, the agent film James Bond 007 - The world is not enough (1999) and the fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Journey on the Dawn ( 2010).

After the turn of the millennium, Apted returned to the roots of his work and directed several episodes of the television series Rome , Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex . Apted served as President of the Directors Guild of America from June 2003 to July 2009 .

Michael Apted was married three times. His marriage to Jo Apted in 1966 resulted in two sons, including the sound engineer Paul Apted (1967-2014). In his second marriage, Apted was married to the screenwriter Dana Stevens from 1998 to 2009 and had another son. Another relationship resulted in a daughter in 2007. In their third marriage, Apted was married to the film producer Paige Simpson from January 2014 until his death . Michael Apted died at his Los Angeles home in early 2021, five weeks before his 80th birthday .

Filmography (selection)

Movies

Documentaries

  • 1970: 7 Plus Seven
  • 1977: 21
  • 1984: 28 Up
  • 1985: Bring on the Night
  • 1989: The Long Way Home
  • 1992: 35 Up
  • 1992: Incident at Oglala
  • 1994: Moving the Mountains
  • 1997: Inspirations
  • 1998: 42 Up
  • 1999: Me & Isaac Newton
  • 2003: Married in America
  • 2005: 49 Up
  • 2006: WM 2006 - A Football Tale (The Fifa 2006 World Cup Film: The Grand Finale)
  • 2006: Married in America 2
  • 2007: The Power of the Game
  • 2012: 56 Up
  • 2014: Bending the Light
  • 2019: 63 Up

Series

  • 1966–1967: Coronation Street (8 episodes)
  • 1967–1968: City '68 (5 episodes)
  • 1969: Big Breadwinner Hog (2 episodes)
  • 1969: Parkin's Patch (7 episodes)
  • 1970: The Sinners (1 episode)
  • 1970: The Lovers (6 episodes)
  • 1973: Black and Blue (1 episode)
  • 1974: Childhood (1 episode)
  • 1975: Shades of Greene (1 episode)
  • 2005–2006: Rome ( Rome , 3 episodes)
  • 2013–2016: Ray Donovan (2 episodes)
  • 2013-2016: Masters of Sex (9 episodes)

Web links

Commons : Michael Apted  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual proof

  1. ↑ a b c d Neil Genzlinger: Michael Apted, Versatile Director Known for 'Up' Series, Dies at 79 . In: nytimes.com from January 8, 2021.
  2. ↑ a b Michael Apted, Director of 'Coal Miner's Daughter' and 'Up' Series of Documentaries, Dies at 79 . In: variety.com of January 8, 2001.
  3. ↑ Brian Welk: Michael Apted, Director of 'Up' Documentaries and 'Coal Miner's Daughter,' Dies at 79 . In: thewrap.com of January 8, 2001.
personal data
SURNAME Apted, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Apted, Michael David
SHORT DESCRIPTION British director
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH Aylesbury , England , UK
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 2021
Place of death Los Angeles , California , United States