Kevin Connor (born 14 July 1937) is an English film and television director based in Hollywood.
New York Times
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Biography
Connor was born in Kings Cross, London
King's Cross is a district in the London boroughs, London Boroughs of London Borough of Camden, Camden and London Borough of Islington, Islington, on either side of Euston Road in north London, England, north of Charing Cross, bordered by Bar ...
on 14 July 1937. He left school in 1953, first working on documentary films in Soho. Later, he became a sound editor on several British productions, working with directors such as Tony Richardson
Cecil Antonio Richardson (5 June 1928 – 14 November 1991) was an English theatre and film director, producer and screenwriter, whose career spanned five decades. He was identified with the "angry young men" group of British directors and play ...
, Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer.
Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...
, Richard Lester
Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director, who spent the majority of his professional life in the United Kingdom. He is known for the fast-paced, flamboyant directing he brought to his comedy films, mo ...
, Abraham Polonsky
Abraham Lincoln Polonsky (December 5, 1910 – October 26, 1999) was an American film director, screenwriter, essayist and novelist. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for '' Body and Soul'' (1947). The following ...
and Michael Cacoyannis
Michalis Kakogiannis (; ; 11 June 1922 – 25 July 2011), usually credited as Michael Cacoyannis or Michael Yannis, was a Greek Cypriot filmmaker, theatre director, and playwright. He is best known for writing, directing, producing, and e ...
. Connor worked as an editor on ''Oh! What a Lovely War
''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a 1969 British epic comedy historical musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth Mo ...
'' in 1969, and was eventually given his directing break with ''From Beyond the Grave
''From Beyond the Grave'' (also known as ''The Creatures from beyond the Grave'') is a 1974 British anthology horror film from Amicus Productions, directed by Kevin Connor, produced by Milton Subotsky and based on short stories by R. Chetwynd ...
'' in 1974, thanks to producer Milton Subotsky
Milton Subotsky (September 27, 1921 – June 27, 1991) was an American film and television writer and producer. In 1964, he founded Amicus Productions with Max J. Rosenberg. Amicus means "friend" in Latin. The partnership produced low-budget ...
of Amicus Productions
Amicus Productions was a Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England, active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. ...
.
He is best remembered for directing 1970s fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
/adventure film
The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...
s such as '' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1974), '' At the Earth's Core'' (1976), '' The People That Time Forgot'' (1977), ''Warlords of Atlantis
''Warlords of Atlantis'' (aka ''Warlords of the Deep'', though see below for further variant titles) is a 1978 British adventure science fiction film directed by Kevin Connor and starring Doug McClure, Peter Gilmore, Shane Rimmer, and Lea Br ...
'' (1979) and ''Arabian Adventure
''Arabian Adventure'' is a 1979 British fantasy adventure film directed by Kevin Connor and starring Christopher Lee and Oliver Tobias.
Premise
An evil caliph offers his daughter's hand in marriage to a prince if he can complete a perilous qu ...
'' (1979).
Connor has also directed other films such as ''Trial by Combat
Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
'' (1976), ''Motel Hell
''Motel Hell'' is a 1980 American comedy horror film directed by Kevin Connor and starring Rory Calhoun, Nancy Parsons, and Nina Axelrod. The plot follows farmer, butcher, motel manager, and meat entrepreneur Vincent Smith, who traps travelers ...
'' (1980), '' The House Where Evil Dwells'' (1982), '' Sunset Grill'' (1993) and ''Domestic Import
''Domestic Import'' is a 2006 comedy film directed by Kevin Connor and written and produced by Andrea C. Malamut. It stars Cynthia Preston and Larry Dorf. Alla Korot, Howard Hesseman and Mindy Sterling co-star.
Cast
* Cynthia Preston as Marsha M ...
'' (2006), as well as many TV miniseries
In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
and films, including '' Goliath Awaits'', '' North and South: Book II'', ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes
''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the ''Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' ...
'', ''Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...
'', '' Diana: Her True Story'', '' Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story'', '' Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor'', '' In the Beginning'', ''Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...
'', ''Blackbeard
Edward Teach (or Thatch; – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he ma ...
'' and ''Marco Polo
Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
''.
His other television work includes episodes of Return of the Saint
''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was co-produced by ITC Entertainment and the Italian b ...
, Hart to Hart
''Hart to Hart'' is an American mystery television series that premiered on August 25, 1979, on ABC. The show stars Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, respectively, a wealthy couple who lead a glamorous jetset ...
and Space 1999
''Space: 1999'' is a British science-fiction television programme that ran for two series from 1975 to 1977. In the premiere episode, set in the year 1999, nuclear waste stored on the Moon's far side explodes, knocking the Moon out of orbit an ...
.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1937 births
Living people
English film directors
English television directors
{{UK-film-director-stub