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1-7 of 7
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Ken Hughes was an award-winning writer and director who flourished in the 1950s and 1960s, though he continued directing into the early 1980s. Born in Liverpool, England, on January 19, 1922, Hughes decided early in his life that he wanted to be a filmmaker. When he was 14 years old he won an amateur movie-making contest.
In 1952 his first feature, the crime drama Wide Boy (1952), was released. By 1955 he was working with imported American character actor Paul Douglas in the quirky Joe MacBeth (1955), a retelling of William Shakespeare's tragedy recast as a modern film noir. Hughes directed the movie and wrote the screenplay. That film led to his directing more English pictures with imported Hollywood B-list stars, including Arlene Dahl and Victor Mature. In a reverse of the Atlantic trade, he exported a script to the US, which was picked up by "Alcoa Theater" and aired as Eddie (1958), starring Mickey Rooney and directed by Jack Smight. It brought Hughes an Emmy Award for his teleplay.
His favorite of his many movies was The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960), starring Peter Finch as the doomed writer. He was nominated for three BAFTA Awards and Finch took home the BAFTA as Best Actor. It also won the Samuel Goldwyn Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film at the Golden Globes.
During the 1960s Hughes worked on A-List pictures, including Of Human Bondage (1964), an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's book, but it did not make anyone forget the Bette Davis-Leslie Howard classic of 30 years earlier (Of Human Bondage (1934)). He also toiled as one of the five directors on the cinematic mishmash Casino Royale (1967), which was a box-office smash but a critical bomb.
His greatest hit was the adaptation of another Ian Fleming work, his children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968). The movie was a huge hit, but Hughes was dissatisfied with it. His next picture, the historical epic Cromwell (1970) (1970), got good reviews, but did not burn up the turnstiles at theaters.
His career slowed down in the 1970s, the low point of which was undoubtedly his directing 83-year-old Mae West, vamping eternally as the 30-something sexpot she imagined herself in her mind, in the Golden Turkey Sextette (1977), a critical and box-office dud. He ended his career directing the exploitation film Night School (1981), a slasher pic starring a then-unknown Rachel Ward.
After a period of declining health, Ken Hughes died on April 28, 2001, in Los Angeles. He was 79 years old.- Actor
- Writer
Paul Daneman was born on 29 October 1925 in Islington, London, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Zulu (1964), Precious Bane (1957) and Corrigan Blake (1962). He was married to Susan Courtney and Meredith Kinmont. He died on 28 April 2001 in London, England, UK.- David Cram was born on 22 August 1957 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He died on 28 April 2001 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Evelyn Künneke was born on 15 December 1921 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Märchen vom Glück (1949), Karneval der Liebe (1943) and Heimliches Rendezvous (1949). She was married to Dieter Hatje and Reinhard Thomanek. She died on 28 April 2001 in Berlin, Germany.- Michael Hadlow was born on 26 August 1915 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), Screen Directors Playhouse (1955) and Voyagers! (1982). He died on 28 April 2001 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Ricardo Câmara was born in 1963 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was an actor, known for Barriga de Aluguel (1990). He died on 28 April 2001 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
- Additional Crew
- Art Department
Carlos Scliar was born on 21 June 1920 in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Carlos is known for Seara Vermelha (1963), A Cartomante (1974) and 24 Anos de Lutas (1945). Carlos died on 28 April 2001 in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.