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Lindsay Anderson

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Filmmaker

The Resume

    (April 17, 1923-August 30, 1994)
    Born in Bengaluru, India
    Film critic for 'Sequence,' 'Sight & Sound,' and 'New Statesman'
    Directed the films 'This Sporting Life' (1963), 'If....' (1968), 'O Lucky Man' (1973), 'Britannia Hospital' (1982), and 'The Whales of August' (1986)
    Assistant Artistic Director of the Royal Court Theatre in London (1971-75)
    Appeared in 'Chariots of Fire' (1981)

Why he might be annoying:

    While a critic for 'New Statesman', he dismissed the Oscar-winner 'Bridge on the River Kwai' in three sentences while devoting 90% of the column to praising a Polish film that had not been released in Britain. David Lean held such a grudge over the slight that 25 years later, he refused to be introduced to Anderson.
    He was offered the role of the Emperor in 'Return of the Jedi' but had to turn it down because he was busy with post-production work on 'Britannia Hospital.'
    While making the concert film 'Foreign Skies! Wham! in China!' he noted that he had no real interest in either Wham! or China and was 'doing this for the money.'
    He was a closeted homosexual, with Malcolm McDowell saying, 'He would always fall in love with his leading man. He would always pick someone who was unavailable because he was heterosexual.'
    He wanted his epitaph to read, 'Surrounded by fucking idiots.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He won a scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford.
    He worked as a cryptographer for military intelligence during World War II.
    He won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film for 'Thursday's Children.' (1954)
    He was a jury member at the Venice Film Festival (1966) and Berlin Film Festival (1986).
    His 'About John Ford' was called 'one of the best books by a film-maker on a film-maker.'

Credit: C. Fishel


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