Jeremy Summers (18 August 1931 – 14 December 2016) was a British

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the pro ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

, known for his directorship of ITC such as '' The Saint''.

Background

Born in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roma ...

in 1931, Summers was born into a family of theatrical tradition and his father

Walter Summers Walter Summers (1892–1973) was a British film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Barnstaple to a family of actors, British motion picture director Walter Summers began his career in the family trade; his first contact with filmmaki ...

(1896-1973) was a film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly 50 different TV programmes between 1960 and 1999, including '' The Saint'' and '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)''.

Career

In his early career, Summers worked as a runner and then later assistant director on films such as '' The Dam Busters'' (1955) with Michael Anderson and ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship '' Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant wh ...

'' (1956) with

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

. Summers became a director with the support film ''

Depth Charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use ...

'' (1960), the screenplay of which he also co-wrote, but he immediately turned his attention to television and directed episodes of '' Desert Hi-Jack'', ''

Interpol Calling ''Interpol Calling'' was a 1959 Rank Organisation and Jack Wrather Productions British television crime drama series for ITC Entertainment. The programme, which ran for one series of 39 half-hour monochrome episodes, followed the adventures o ...

'' and four episodes of '' International Detective'' between 1960 and 1961. A sequence of feature films followed, the Tony Hancock feature film vehicle '' The Punch and Judy Man'', '' Crooks in Cloisters'' (1964) with Ronald Fraser and

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.Dateline Diamonds'' (1965) starring William Lucas and

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (born 14 April 1931) is an English retired actor and scriptwriter. He is best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street'' and Ray Hilton in ''Brookside'' ...

http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/65fabs/april66/datelinediamonds.html Dateline Diamonds as well as the Gerry and the Pacemakers feature film '' Ferry Cross the Mersey'' (1965). Meanwhile, he continued in television with '' Man of the World'' and, in 1965, episodes of ''Court Martial'', '' Gideon's Way'' and the film '' San Ferry Ann''. In 1966, Summers directed episodes of ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

''; he also directed some 12 episodes of '' The Saint'' from 1964 to 1966. Episodes of ''The Saint'' that Summers filmed include "The Lawless Lady", "The Death Penalty" and "The Unkind Philanthropist" (1964), "The Abducters" (1965) and "The Man Who Liked Lions" (1966). This was followed in 1967 by ''

The Baron Baron is a title of nobility. Baron, The Baron or Barons may also refer to: Places * Barons, Alberta, Canada * Baron, Gard, France * Baron, Gironde, France * Baron, Oise, France * Baron, Saône-et-Loire, France * Baron-sur-Odon, France * Bar ...

'' and several foreign films of that year '' The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'', '' Five Golden Dragons'' and '' The House of 1,000 Dolls'' for Harry Alan Towers. He also directed an episode of '' Man in a Suitcase'' in 1968. In 1969, still under contract with ITC, Summers directed a number of episodes of the popular series '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', working with actors Mike Pratt,

and

Annette Andre Annette Andre (born 24 June 1939) is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Early life and early career The daughter of an upholsterer, Annette Andre was born in Drummoyne, Australia, ...

. In the 1970s, Summers directed two episodes of '' UFO'' and several of ''

The Protectors ''The Protectors'' is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series to exclusively use live actors as opposed to marionettes (following '' UFO''), and his second to be firmly set in ...

'', both being

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

series. Other directing credits include '' Jason King'' (1971–72), ''Boy Dominic'' (1974), and '' Return of the Saint'' (1978, this version with Ian Ogilvy cast as Simon Templar). He also directed films for the

Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) was a non-profit organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom originally to be shown as part of childrens' Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. The films typically were about 55 ...

, including ''Sammy's Super T-shirt''. During the 1980s, he directed multiple episodes of dramas for the BBC and independent television, including '' Tenko'' (1982–84), ''Strangers and Brothers'', '' Big Deal'' (1985–86), '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (1988), '' Howard's Way'' (1989–90), and '' Hannay (1988, with

Robert Powell Robert Powell (; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in '' Mahler'' (1974) and ''Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) and its s ...

appearing as Richard Hannay). In the 1990s he directed many episodes of the television

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

s ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'', ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffa ...

'' and '' Brookside'' (including the film spin offs ''The Lost Weekend'', ''Friday the 13th'' and ''Double Take!'') before his retirement in 2001. While on Brookside, he also directed the

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

feature ''The Last night of the Kop'' commemorating the final time the football stand was used before

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

became an all-seater stadium.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Jeremy 1931 births 2016 deaths British television directors English television directors People from St Albans English film directors