British Noir Directors

1. Marc Allégret

Marc Allégret was born on December 22, 1900 in Basel, Switzerland. He was a director and writer, known for The Curtain Rises (1938), Avec André Gide (1951) and Julietta (1953). He was married to Nadine Vogel. He died on November 3, 1973 in Paris, France.

2. Lewis Allen

Director | The 20th Century-Fox Hour

Born in England on Christmas Day, 1905, Lewis Allen first came on the show-biz scene when he was appointed executive in charge of West End and Broadway stage productions for famed impresario Gilbert Miller. Allen also co-directed some of the productions (including the celebrated "Victoria Regina" ...

3. Paul Almond

Director | Isabel

Paul Almond's television and movie productions have won numerous awards, including: 12 Canadian Film Awards (Genies), 3 Ohio State Awards and other international awards

In 2001, Paul Almond was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for having "demonstrated an outstanding level of talent and ...

4. Gerry Anderson

Writer | Joe 90

Gerry Anderson was born on April 14, 1929 in West Hampstead, London, England, UK. He was a writer and producer, known for Joe 90 (1968), Invasion: UFO (1974) and UFO (1970). He was married to Mary Robins, Sylvia Anderson and Betty Wrightman. He died on December 26, 2012 in Henley-on-Thames, England...

5. Michael Anderson

Director | Logan's Run

London-born Michael Anderson began his career in films as an office boy at Elstree studios. By 1938, he had progressed up the ladder to become assistant director for distinguished film makers Noël Coward, David Lean and Anthony Asquith. Shortly after, during wartime with the Royal Signals Corps (...

6. Ken Annakin

Director | The Longest Day

A former salesman and journalist, Ken Annakin got into the film industry making documentary shorts. His feature debut, Holiday Camp (1947), was a comedy about a Cockney family on vacation. It was made for the Rank Organization and was a modest success, spawning three sequels, all of which he ...

7. Leslie Arliss

Director | William Tell

Former journalist and film critic Leslie Arliss began his film career as a screenwriter in the 1930s, mainly for Gainsborough Pictures. He continued as a writer for ten years, leaving Gainsborough in 1941 when he was offered a chance to direct at Associated British. It wasn't long before he ...

8. John Arnold

Director | Comedy Lab

John Arnold is known for Comedy Lab (1998).

9. Anthony Asquith

Director | The Browning Version

British film director Anthony Asquith was born on November 9, 1902, to H.H. Asquith, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his second wife. A former home secretary and the future leader of the Liberal Party, H.H. Asquith served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1908-1916 and was ...

10. Robert S. Baker

Producer | The Saint

London-born Robert S. Baker served as an artilleryman in the British army during World War II, posted to North Africa (where he met future partner Monty Berman), and later joined the army's film and photography unit, becoming a combat cameraman in Europe. At war's end he and Berman formed Tempean ...

11. Roy Ward Baker

Director | A Night to Remember

Roy Ward Baker's first job in films was as a teaboy at the Gainsborough Studios in London, England, but within three years he was working as an assistant director. During World War II, he worked in the Army Kinematograph Unit under Eric Ambler, a writer and film producer, who, after the war, gave ...

12. Laslo Benedek

Director | Death of a Salesman

Laslo Benedek was brought to Hollywood from Hungary--where he had been a writer, editor and photographer--by MGM, and his first few films were undistinguished programmers. His third, however, was quite a bit better: Death of a Salesman (1951), the screen version of Arthur Miller's classic play. ...

13. Charles Bennett

Director | Painted Pictures

Charles Bennett is known for Painted Pictures (1930).

14. Compton Bennett

Writer | How to Undress in Public Without Undue Embarrassment

Compton Bennett started out as a bandleader and then became a commercial artist. He turned out a few amateur films that caught the attention of producer Alexander Korda's London Films, and they hired him in 1932 as a film editor. During World War II he directed a few instructional films for the ...

15. Thomas Bentley

Director | After Office Hours

Thomas Bentley was born on February 23, 1884 in St George Hanover Square, London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for After Office Hours (1932), Barnaby Rudge (1915) and The Lackey and the Lady (1919). He died on December 23, 1966 in Bournemouth, England, UK.

16. Daniel Birt

Director | Third Party Risk

Daniel Birt was born on June 23, 1907 in Mersham, England, UK. He was a director and editor, known for The Deadly Game (1954), Ett kungligt äventyr (1956) and The Interrupted Journey (1949). He died on May 15, 1955 in London, England, UK.

17. Terry Bishop

Director | Model for Murder

Terry Bishop was born on October 21, 1912 in Chiswick, England, UK. Terry was a director and writer, known for Model for Murder (1959), Cover Girl Killer (1959) and You're Only Young Twice (1952). Terry died on October 30, 1981.

18. John Boulting

Director | I'm All Right Jack

John Boulting was born on December 21, 1913 in Bray, Berkshire, England, UK. He was a producer and director, known for I'm All Right Jack (1959), Seven Days to Noon (1950) and Private's Progress (1956). He was married to Anne Josephine Flynn, Ann Marion Ware, Jacqueline Helen Duncan and Veronica ...

19. Roy Boulting

Director | Seven Days to Noon

Roy Boulting was born on December 21, 1913 in Bray, Berkshire, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Seven Days to Noon (1950), A French Mistress (1960) and The Family Way (1966). He was married to Sandra Payne, Hayley Mills, Enid Munnik, Jean Capon and Marian Angela Warnock. He died...

20. Muriel Box

Writer | The Seventh Veil

Muriel Box was born on September 22, 1905 in New Malden, Surrey [now in Kingston upon Thames, London], England, UK. She was a writer and director, known for The Seventh Veil (1945), Mr. Lord Says No (1952) and A Novel Affair (1957). She was married to Gerald Gardiner and Sydney Box. She died on May...

21. George P. Breakston

Director | Jungle Stampede

George P. Breakston was born on January 20, 1920 in Paris, France. He was a director and producer, known for Jungle Stampede (1950), Life Returns (1934) and Manster (1959). He died on May 19, 1973 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

22. Alan Bridges

Director | American Playhouse

Alan Bridges was born on September 28, 1927 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for American Playhouse (1980), The Hireling (1973) and The Shooting Party (1984). He was married to Ann Castle. He died on December 7, 2013 in the UK.

23. Anthony Bushell

Actor | The Scarlet Pimpernel

Anthony Bushell was born on May 19, 1904 in Westerham, Kent, England, UK. He was an actor and producer, known for The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), Five Star Final (1931) and A Night to Remember (1958). He was married to Anne Pearce-Serocold and Zelma O'Neal. He died on April 2, 1997 in Oxford, England...

24. Jack Cardiff

Cinematographer | Black Narcissus

Almost universally considered one of the greatest cinematographers of all time, Jack Cardiff was also a notable director. He described his childhood as very happy and his parents as quite loving. They performed in music hall as comedians, so he grew up with the fun that came with their theatrical ...

25. Michael Carreras

Producer | Dracula

Michael Carreras was born on December 21, 1927 in Wandsworth, London, England, UK. He was a producer and director, known for Horror of Dracula (1958), The Lost Continent (1968) and What a Crazy World (1963). He died on April 19, 1994 in Chelsea, London, England, UK.

26. John Paddy Carstairs

Director | Incident in Shanghai

Writer-director John Paddy Carstairs was born Nelson Keys, the son of actor Nelson Keys and the brother of producer Anthony Nelson Keys, in London, England, in 1910. Beginning his career as an assistant cameraman, he worked his way up to screenwriter and made his directorial debut in 1933. While ...

27. Henry Cass

Director | Mr. Brown Comes Down the Hill

Henry Cass was born on June 24, 1903 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Mr. Brown Comes Down the Hill (1965), The Glass Mountain (1949) and Give a Dog a Bone (1965). He was married to Joan Hopkins and Nancy Hornsby. He died on March 15, 1989 in Hastings, ...

28. Alberto Cavalcanti

Director | O Canto do Mar

Born in Brazil in 1897, Alberto Cavalcanti began his film career in France in 1920, working as writer, art director and director. He directed the avant-garde documentary Nothing But Time (1926) ("Nothing but Time"), a portrait of the lives of Parisian workers in a single day. He moved to England in...

29. Don Chaffey

Director | Jason and the Argonauts

British director Don Chaffey began his career in the film industry in the art department at Gainsborough Pictures. He began directing in 1951, often working on films aimed at children. He branched out into television in the mid-'50s, turning out many of the best episodes of such classic series as ...

30. Stephen Clarkson

Writer | Death Goes to School

Stephen Clarkson was born on September 10, 1912. He was a writer and director, known for Death Goes to School (1953), Armchair Theatre (1956) and Dual Alibi (1947). He died on January 11, 2004 in the UK.

31. St. John Legh Clowes

Writer | No Orchids for Miss Blandish

St. John Legh Clowes was born in 1907 in East London, South Africa. He was a writer and director, known for No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948), Grand Prix (1934) and Frozen Fate (1929). He died in 1951 in London, England, UK.

32. Lance Comfort

Director | Temptation Harbour

Director Lance Comfort began his film career as a camera operator. He also worked as a sound recordist and animator, mostly in British documentaries and medical training films. His first feature was the big-budget but slow-moving Courageous Mr. Penn (1942), a biography of 18th-century political ...

33. Alan Cooke

Director | The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Alan Cooke was born on March 29, 1926 in London, England, UK. He was a director and producer, known for The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971), Matinee Theatre (1955) and Out of This World (1962). He died on October 9, 1994 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

34. Stany Cordier

Director | Paris Music Hall

Stany Cordier was born on January 23, 1913 in Metz, Moselle, France. He was a director and production manager, known for Paris Music Hall (1957) and Maigret dirige l'enquête (1956). He died on September 24, 1982 in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

35. Arthur Crabtree

Director | Don't Ever Leave Me

Arthur Crabtree (1900-1975) was born in Shipley, Yorkshire where he gave up a safe job with a local firm of engineers to become a clapper boy at Elstree Studios. He had always been interested in photography and at the age of 29 he took a calculated risk, which paid off, when sound hit the British ...

36. Charles Crichton

Director | A Fish Called Wanda

Director Charles Crichton's film career began as an editor in 1935 with Alexander Korda's London Films, and in that capacity he worked on such productions as Sanders of the River (1935), Things to Come (1936) and Elephant Boy (1937) (which introduced Sabu to movie audiences). He soon left London ...

37. Jules Dassin

Director | Du rififi chez les hommes

Jules Dassin was an Academy Award-nominated director, screenwriter and actor best known for his films Rififi (1955), Never on Sunday (1960), and Topkapi (1964).

He was born Julius Samuel Dassin on 18 December 1911, in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. He was one of eight children of Russian-Jewish ...

38. Allan Davis

Producer | Love Among the Ruins

Theatre director. Allan George Davis was born in London in 1913 to Australian parents. Davis studied economics at the University of Sydney and joined the Independent Theatre of North Sydney. He made his professional debut with the film "The squatter's daughter" in 1933. In 1934 he moved to London ...

39. Basil Dean

Producer | Whom the Gods Love

Basil Dean first appeared as an actor on the British stage in 1906. He soon switched careers and began writing and directing plays. Turning to the film industry, he became a producer and director in 1928; many of the films he produced and directed were based on his own stage plays.

40. Basil Dearden

Director | Sapphire

A former stage director, Basil Dearden entered films as an assistant to director Basil Dean (he changed his name from Dear to avoid being confused with Dean). Dearden worked his way up the ladder and directed (with Will Hay) his first film in 1941; two years later he directed his first film on his ...

41. Jeffrey Dell

Writer | It's Hard to Be Good

Only son of John Edward Dell and Gertrude Flowers of Shoreham-On-Sea. Trained as an articled clerk in his father's law firm Dell & Loader before signing up for the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. He was eventually invalided out of the service after a aeroplane crash in training.

Trained as a solicitor, ...

42. Thorold Dickinson

Director | Giv'a 24 Eina Ona

Born in Bristol, England, Thorold Dickinson began his film career during the silent era as a writer. He went to work for Ealing in the 1930s, first as an editor and then as a director. He directed or produced military training films during World War II, and after the war he turned out a string of ...

43. Paul Dickson

Director | The Undefeated

Paul Dickson was born on January 18, 1920 in Cardiff, Wales, UK. He was a director and writer, known for The Undefeated (1951), The Avengers (1961) and Department S (1969). He died on October 6, 2011 in the UK.

44. Edward Dmytryk

Director | The Caine Mutiny

Edward Dmytryk grew up in San Francisco, the son of Ukrainian immigrants. After his mother died when he was 6, his strict disciplinarian father beat the boy frequently, and the child began running away while in his early teens. Eventually, juvenile authorities allowed him to live alone at the age ...

45. Clive Donner

Director | The Caretaker

British director Clive Donner was born in West Hampstead, London, England. By age 18 he was already working in the film business, as an office clerk at Denham Studios. He eventually became an editor and then graduated to the director's chair. After making a series of TV commercials, he made his ...

46. Patrick Dromgoole

Producer | Robin of Sherwood

Patrick Dromgoole was born on August 30, 1930 in Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile. He is a producer and director, known for Robin Hood (1984), Pretenders (1972) and Suspense (1962). He has been married to June Morrow since 1991. He was previously married to Jennifer Davis.

47. Peter Duffell

Director | BBC2 Playhouse

Peter Duffell was born on July 10, 1922 in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for BBC2 Playhouse (1973), The Avengers (1961) and Man in a Suitcase (1967). He was married to Rosslyn Audrey Cliffe and ??. He died on December 12, 2017 in the UK.

48. David Eady

Director | Play Safe

David Eady was born on April 22, 1924 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Play Safe (1978), Where's Johnny? (1974) and Faces in the Dark (1960). He died on April 5, 2009.

49. Maurice Elvey

Director | The Glad Eye

Maurice Elvey was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England, the oldest son of William Clarence Folkard, an inspecting engineer, and Sarah Anna Seward Folkard (formerly Pearce). He never had a formal education, and was working on the streets of London by the age of nine after having run away...

50. Cy Endfield

Director | Zulu

The son of a struggling businessman, Cy Endfield--born Cyril Raker Endfield--worked hard to be admitted to Yale University in 1933. While completing his education he became enamored with progressive theatre and appeared in a New Haven production of a minor Russian play in 1934. He was also ...

51. Terence Fisher

Director | Dracula

Terence Fisher was born in Maida Vale, England, in 1904. Raised by his grandmother in a strict Christian Scientist environment, Fisher left school while still in his teens to join the Merchant Marine. By his own account he soon discovered that a life at sea was not for him, so he left the service ...

52. Richard Fleischer

Director | Soylent Green

Richard firmly established his credentials with such epics as The Vikings (1958) , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Barabbas (1961) and also proved to be a master of intimate drama with Compulsion (1959) , which won Cannes Festival awards for the male stars. He won an Academy Award for one ...

53. Gordon Flemyng

Director | The Avengers

Gordon Flemyng was born on March 7, 1934 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was a director and producer, known for The Avengers (1961), Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Emmerdale Farm (1972). He died on July 12, 1995 in London, England, UK.

54. Bryan Forbes

Actor | The Guns of Navarone

Bryan Forbes was born on July 22, 1926 in Stratford, London, England as John Theobald Clarke. He was an actor, writer, and director, known for The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Whisperers (1967) and Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). He was married to Nanette Newman and Constance Smith. He died on ...

55. Walter Forde

Director | Chu Chin Chow

British director Walter Forde started his show-business career on the stage of the music halls of northern England. He entered the film business as a screenwriter but became an actor in 1920, in a series of two-reel comedies he wrote himself. He spent some time in Hollywood, but not much happened ...

56. Freddie Francis

Cinematographer | The Straight Story

During his last years at school he spent most of his time writing a thesis on 'the future of film' On leaving school he joined Gaumont British Studios at Lime Grove as an apprentice to a stills photographer for a year. He claimed this taught him more about the art of photography than any other form...

57. Charles Frank

Director | Intimate Relations

Charles Frank was born on January 23, 1910 in Belgium. He was a director and writer, known for Disobedient (1953), The Inheritance (1947) and Rheingold Theatre (1953). He died on April 24, 1997.

58. Thornton Freeland

Director | Be Yourself!

On the stage since childhood, Thornton Freeland went to work for Vitagraph in 1918, rising in the ranks from assistant cameraman to director, and made his directorial debut, Three Live Ghosts (1929), just at the dawn of the sound era. A specialist in light romantic comedies and musicals, Freeland ...

59. Harold French

Director | Adam and Evelyne

London-born Harold French made his name on the stage, both as an actor and director. He crossed over to films, making his acting debut in 1920. He became a director shortly before the beginning of World War II, debuting with The Cavalier of the Streets (1937), and made a well-received adaptation of ...

60. Seymour Friedman

Director | Criminal Lawyer

Born in Detroit, Cambridge-educated Seymour Friedman entered films in 1937 as an assistant editor, eventually graduating to assistant director. After WW II service, he returned to the film industry as a director, mainly of routine, low-budget action films, many for Columbia Pictures, debuting with ...

61. Sidney J. Furie

Director | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

Toronto-born Sidney J. Furie has enjoyed an incredibly distinguished career that has spanned more than five decades. Having dabbled in every genre, Furie has directed films starring Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Robert Redford, Diana Ross, Michael Caine, Peter O'Toole, Rodney Dangerfield, Barbara ...

62. Alan Gibson

Director | The Satanic Rites of Dracula

Alan Gibson was born on April 28, 1938 in London, Ontario, Canada. He was a director and producer, known for The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), Journey to the Unknown (1968) and 1990 (1977). He died on July 5, 1987 in London, England, UK.

63. Lewis Gilbert

Director | Alfie

Lewis Gilbert was a British film director, producer and screenwriter best known for Alfie (1966), as well as three James Bond films: You Only Live Twice (1967), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker (1979).

He also directed Reach for the Sky (1956), Sink the Bismarck! (1960), Educating Rita (...

64. Sidney Gilliat

Writer | State Secret

Sidney Gilliat, the English director, screenwriter, and producer, was born on February 15, 1908 in Edgely, Cheshire, England. He began his screen-writing career in the silent movie era, writing inter-titles, going uncredited for his contributions to Honeymoon Abroad (1928), Champagne (1928), and ...

65. John Gilling

Director | The Pirates of Blood River

John Gilling was born on May 29, 1912 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for The Pirates of Blood River (1962), The Gamma People (1956) and Murder Will Out (1952). He died on November 22, 1984 in Madrid, Spain.

66. Gerard Glaister

Producer | Howards' Way

One of Britain's foremost television producers, Gerard Glaister was responsible for a string of top rating hit series including Dr Finlay's Casebook, Secret Army, Colditz, The Expert and Howard's Way.

His biggest success was the road haulage family drama The Brothers (1972-76), which he both devised...

67. Bert Glazer

Director | Women Without Men

Bert Glazer was born on December 4, 1895 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an assistant director and director, known for Women Without Men (1956), Shack Out on 101 (1955) and Nancy Goes to Rio (1950). He was married to Eve F.. He died on December 17, 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

68. Alfred J. Goulding

Director | Dick Barton: Special Agent

Australian-born Alf Goulding was a former vaudevillian who became a director specializing in comedy shorts. He directed Harold Lloyd comedies for Hal Roach, and in the early 1920s joined Mack Sennett, then turned out two-reelers at RKO and Columbia, sometimes featuring Edgar Kennedy. In England ...

69. Victor M. Gover

Director | The Curse of the Wraydons

Victor M. Gover was born on February 22, 1908. Victor M. was a director and editor, known for Strangler's Morgue (1946), Murder at Scotland Yard (1952) and King of the Underworld (1952). Victor M. died on June 21, 1970 in London, England, UK.

70. Godfrey Grayson

Director | Meet Simon Cherry

Godfrey Grayson was born on August 2, 1913 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Meet Simon Cherry (1949), Room to Let (1950) and To Have and to Hold (1951). He was married to Ida Nannestad Hassing. He died on June 1, 1998 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, ...

71. Guy Green

Cinematographer | Great Expectations

Guy Green is well known to film audiences. Formerly a cinematographer, he was the first British D.P. to receive an Academy Award for his black-and-white photography on David Lean's Great Expectations (1946). He founded the British Society of Cinematographers together with Freddie Young and Jack ...

72. Edmond T. Gréville

Director | Veertig jaren

Edmond T. Gréville was born on June 20, 1906 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. He was a director and writer, known for Veertig jaren (1938), Temptation (1959) and The Hands of Orlac (1960). He was married to Vanda Gréville. He died on May 26, 1966 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

73. Richard M. Grey

Director | Eyes That Kill

Richard M. Grey was born on November 19, 1916 in London, England, UK. Richard M. is a director and writer, known for Eyes That Kill (1947), A Gunman Has Escaped (1948) and Sherlock Holmes: The Man Who Disappeared (1951).

74. Val Guest

Writer | The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Val Guest began his career as an actor on the British stage and in early sound films. He ran the one-man London office of "The Hollywood Reporter" until an encounter with director Marcel Varnel led to a screen writing job at Gainsborough Studios. Guest's directing career began in the early 1940s ...

75. John Guillermin

Director | The Towering Inferno

John Guillermin was born on November 11, 1925 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for The Towering Inferno (1974), Death on the Nile (1978) and King Kong (1976). He was married to Maureen Connell and Mary Guillermin. He died on September 27, 2015 in Topanga Canyon, ...

76. Gordon Hales

Editor | Village of the Damned

Gordon Hales was born in 1916 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK. He was an editor and director, known for Village of the Damned (1960), Return to Sender (1963) and The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959). He died in 1994 in London, England, UK.

77. Robert Hamer

Director | Kind Hearts and Coronets

Robert James Hamer was born in 1911 along with his twin sister Barbara, the son of Owen Dyke Hamer, a bank clerk, and his wife, Annie Grace Brickell. He was educated at Cambridge University where he wrote some poetry and was published in a collection 'Contemporaries and Their Maker', along with the...

78. Guy Hamilton

Director | Live and Let Die

Typically British stiff-upper-lip war dramas and action adventure laced with moments of sophisticated comedy were Guy Hamilton's trademark. The son of a British diplomat, he spent most of his youth with his family in France, seemingly destined to be groomed for a career in the diplomatic service. ...

79. John Harlow

Director | While I Live

John Harlow was born on August 19, 1896 in Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, England, UK. He was a director and assistant director, known for While I Live (1947), Meet Sexton Blake! (1945) and Candles at Nine (1944). He was married to Enid Hewitt. He died in 1977 in Wandsworth, London, England, UK.

80. Lionel Harris

Director | BBC Sunday-Night Theatre

Lionel Harris was born on August 16, 1922. He was a director and producer, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and ITV Play of the Week (1955). He died on April 11, 1984 in Camden, London, England, UK.

81. Norman Harrison

Assistant_director | Interpol Calling

Norman Harrison was born in 1926 in Fifeshire, Scotland, UK. He is an assistant director and director, known for Interpol Calling (1959), Locker Sixty Nine (1962) and Incident at Midnight (1963).

82. Ben R. Hart

Director | Frozen Fate

Ben R. Hart was a director and cinematographer, known for Frozen Fate (1929), River Patrol (1948) and Birds of a Feather (I) (1931). He died in 1968 in Buckinghamshire, England, UK.

83. Sidney Hayers

Director | Night of the Eagle

Sidney Hayers entered films in the early 1940s, working in the sound department, as a focus puller and in the cutting room before he began his directing career with Rebound (1959) in 1958. The journeyman director's roster of credits also includes episodic TV on both sides of the Atlantic, a ...

84. Stanley Haynes

Writer | Carnival

Stanley Haynes was born on November 14, 1906 in Birmingham, Warks, England, UK. He was a producer and writer, known for Carnival (1946), Madeleine (1950) and Dangerous Cargo (1954). He was married to Rosalyn Boulter. He died in 1958 in London, England, UK.

85. Alfred Hitchcock

Director | Psycho

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England. He was the son of Emma Jane (Whelan; 1863 - 1942) and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock (1862 - 1914). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William Hitchcock (born 1890) and ...

86. Seth Holt

Producer | The Ladykillers

Seth Holt began as an assistant editor at Ealing in 1944, graduating to editor (1949), producer (1955) and director (1958).He returned to editing for Charles Crichton's The Battle of the Sexes (1960) and for Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). Probably his best known film is The Nanny (1965),...

87. Ken Hughes

Writer | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

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 ...

88. Lawrence Huntington

Director | Contraband Spain

Lawrence Huntington was born on March 9, 1900 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Contraband Spain (1955), The Vulture (1966) and Man on the Run (1949). He died on November 29, 1968 in London, England, UK.

89. Brian Desmond Hurst

Director | On the Night of the Fire

Hailing from East Belfast, Northern Ireland, Hans Moore Hawthorn Hurst was a linen worker before joining the army during World War I. He was a private in the Royal Irish Rifles, and survived the slaughter at the disastrous Gallipoli landing in Turkey. He changed his name to Brian Desmond Hurst. On ...

90. Harold Huth

Actor | Rome Express

Harold Huth was born on January 20, 1892 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a producer and actor, known for Rome Express (1932), The Ghoul (1933) and My Sister and I (1948). He was married to Bridget Nickols. He died on October 26, 1967 in London, England, UK.

91. Pat Jackson

Director | White Corridors

Pat Jackson began as an editor and co-director of documentaries with the famed GPO Film Unit in the mid-1930s. He worked with such icons of the documentary field as John Grierson and Harry Watt, but it was his World War II semi-documentary Western Approaches (1944) that put him on the map. Praised ...

92. Charles Jarrott

Director | The Secret Life of Algernon

Charles Jarrott was born on June 16, 1927 in London, England, UK. He was a director and actor, known for The Secret Life of Algernon (1998), Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) and Encounter (1952). He was married to Suzanne Jarrott, Katharine Blake and Rosemary Palin. He died on March 4, 2011 in ...

93. Patrick Jenkins

Director | The Gambler and the Lady

Patrick Jenkins is known for The Gambler and the Lady (1952), The Winslow Boy (1948) and Now Barabbas (1949).

94. Denis Kavanagh

Director | They Never Learn

Denis Kavanagh was born on May 6, 1906 in Carlow, Ireland. He was a director and writer, known for They Never Learn (1956), Escape from the Iron Curtain (1956) and Starlight Serenade (1944). He died on June 14, 1984 in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, England, UK.

95. Roy Kellino

Director | Four Star Playhouse

Roy Kellino was born on April 22, 1912 in London, England as Philip Roy Gislingham. He was a director and cinematographer, known for Four Star Playhouse (1952), _Schlitz Playhouse (1951) (TV Series)_, and Charade (1954). He was married firstly to Pamela Ostrer (later known as Pamela Mason), and ...

96. Anthony Kimmins

Writer | Smiley

British writer/director Anthony Kimmins was a naval officer in World War I, and after the war became a film actor and playwright. He wrote and directed several films for British comedian George Formby in the 1930s, but with the outbreak of World War II Kimmins rejoined the Royal Navy and spent the ...

97. George King

Director | Little Stranger

Producer/director George King began his career in the British film industry in the 1920s as an agent. He eventually moved into writing, then turned to producing and directing, mostly in the field known as "quota quickies" (films made to comply with the British government's requirement that a ...

98. Ronald Kinnoch

Producer | Village of the Damned

Ronald Kinnoch was born on June 11, 1910 in Dundee, Tayside, Scotland, UK. He was a producer and writer, known for Village of the Damned (1960), Village of the Damned (1995) and The Secret Man (1958). He died on November 22, 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

99. John Knight

Director | The Avengers

John Knight was born in 1919 in Auckland, New Zealand. He was a director and producer, known for The Avengers (1961), Out of This World (1962) and Electrode 93 (1957). He was married to Brigid Lenihan. He died in 1967.

100. Bernard Knowles

Cinematographer | The 39 Steps

British director Bernard Knowles started his career as a newspaper photographer, and in the 1920s journeyed to the US and worked as a photographer for the Detroit News. Upon his return to England in 1922 he was hired by Gainsborough Pictures as an assistant cameraman, and it didn't take long for ...