British director Ronald Neame has died at the age of 99 after failing to recover from a fall.
The Poseidon Adventure filmmaker passed away at a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday, his friend Peter Bowes has confirmed.
Born in London to photographer Elwin Neame and actress Ivy Close, Neame began his career in the film industry as a messenger boy at the U.K.'s famous Elstree Studios, where he first met acclaimed director Alfred Hitchcock.
He became an assistant cameraman on Hitchcock's 1929 movie Blackmail, before working as a cinematographer on 1933 musical comedy Happy.
He turned to directing in 1947 with Take My Life, and he worked with acting legend Alec Guinness on three of his films, The Card (1952), The Horse's Mouth (1958) and Tunes of Glory (1960).
But Neame will perhaps be best remembered for 1972's The Poseidon Adventure, which earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Shelley Winters. The disaster movie, which also starred Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine, won in the two other categories it was nominated for - Best Song for The Song from The Poseidon Adventure, also known as The Morning After, and Special Achievement in Visual Effects.
During his lengthy career, Neame also worked with Judy Garland, Dirk Bogarde and Dame Maggie Smith, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1969 for her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
He is survived by his third wife Donna Friedberg, who he wed in 1993; his son Christopher, a writer/producer, from his first marriage to Beryl Heanly; and his grandson Gareth, who works as a TV producer.
The Poseidon Adventure filmmaker passed away at a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday, his friend Peter Bowes has confirmed.
Born in London to photographer Elwin Neame and actress Ivy Close, Neame began his career in the film industry as a messenger boy at the U.K.'s famous Elstree Studios, where he first met acclaimed director Alfred Hitchcock.
He became an assistant cameraman on Hitchcock's 1929 movie Blackmail, before working as a cinematographer on 1933 musical comedy Happy.
He turned to directing in 1947 with Take My Life, and he worked with acting legend Alec Guinness on three of his films, The Card (1952), The Horse's Mouth (1958) and Tunes of Glory (1960).
But Neame will perhaps be best remembered for 1972's The Poseidon Adventure, which earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Shelley Winters. The disaster movie, which also starred Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine, won in the two other categories it was nominated for - Best Song for The Song from The Poseidon Adventure, also known as The Morning After, and Special Achievement in Visual Effects.
During his lengthy career, Neame also worked with Judy Garland, Dirk Bogarde and Dame Maggie Smith, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1969 for her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
He is survived by his third wife Donna Friedberg, who he wed in 1993; his son Christopher, a writer/producer, from his first marriage to Beryl Heanly; and his grandson Gareth, who works as a TV producer.
- 6/18/2010
- WENN
British filmmaker Ronald Neame, whose career dates back to serving as assistant cameraman on the first feature film made with sound in Great Britain, Alfred Hitchcock's "Blackmail," has died, according to reports. He was 99.
No details were available.
His directing credits ranged from "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) to "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969), for which Maggie Smith won the Oscar for best actress.
As a producer, Neame was involved with three British classics: "Brief Encounter" (1945), "Great Expectations" (1946) and "Oliver Twist" (1948). "Brief Encounter" and "Great Expectations" were the fruition of a production partnership called Cineguild that Neame had formed with David Lean and Anthony Havelock-Allan.
As a screenwriter, Neame earned Oscar nominations for the screenplays of "Brief," adapted from a Noel Coward play, and "Expectations," from Charles Dickens' novel. He shared those distinctions with Lean and Havelock-Allan.
Cineguild broke up in 1947 with a fall-out between Neame and Lean when...
No details were available.
His directing credits ranged from "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972) to "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969), for which Maggie Smith won the Oscar for best actress.
As a producer, Neame was involved with three British classics: "Brief Encounter" (1945), "Great Expectations" (1946) and "Oliver Twist" (1948). "Brief Encounter" and "Great Expectations" were the fruition of a production partnership called Cineguild that Neame had formed with David Lean and Anthony Havelock-Allan.
As a screenwriter, Neame earned Oscar nominations for the screenplays of "Brief," adapted from a Noel Coward play, and "Expectations," from Charles Dickens' novel. He shared those distinctions with Lean and Havelock-Allan.
Cineguild broke up in 1947 with a fall-out between Neame and Lean when...
- 6/18/2010
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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