Raymond Edward Menmuir (10 September 1930 – 26 March 2016) was a British-Australian director and producer. His career included producing 44 episodes of '' The Professionals'' and directing 12 episodes of '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. He also produced an Australian version of ''The Professionals'' called '' Special Squad'' for the Ten Network in 1984.

Early life

Menmuir was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, as the eldest of four children to Edward Menmuir and his wife Dorothy (née Williams). Menmuir was educated at Wesley College.

Work

His first employment was as a reporter at the Perth Daily News, but he then transferred to the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is a ...

as a radio producer. He was deeply impressed by European culture, by seeing various films at the 1953 Festival of the Arts in Perth, and then took artistic inspiration from various films including

Marcel Pagnol Marcel Paul Pagnol (, also ; ; 28 February 1895 – 18 April 1974) was a French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker. Regarded as an auteur, in 1946, he became the first filmmaker elected to the . Pagnol is generally regarded as one of France's ...

's ''Cesar'',

Vittorio de Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

's '' Bicycle Thieves'', and

Mikhail Kalatozov Mikhail Konstantinovich Kalatozov ( ka, მიხეილ კალატოზიშვილი, ; 28 December 1903 – 26 March 1973), born Mikheil Kalatozishvili, was a Soviet film director of Georgians, Georgian origin who contributed to b ...

's '' The Cranes are Flying''. This came out when he was soon directing dramas at the ABC's television drama department in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He directed the second play to be televised, J.B. Priestly's '' The Rose and Crown'' written specifically for television, and the first play from the new (1958)

Gore Hill Gore Hill is an urban locality on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Gore Hill is located within the southern part of the suburb of Artarmon, and the north-west of the suburb of St Leonards. History It takes its ...

complex, Barbara Vernon's '' The Multi-Coloured Umbrella''. Annette Andre recalled him as "a good director, he knew what he was doing." He originally directed all sorts of programs for the ABC but in October 1959 was assigned to drama full time. Probably his greatest achievement in these years was the 5 October 1960 live production in prime time of the two-hour epic

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

play, '' The Life and Death of King Richard II'', using all three studios at Gore Hill. In 1961, Menmuir and his then wife Heidi moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Menmuir directed for stage Alan Seymour's play, '' The One Day of the Year'' at

Theatre Royal Stratford East Stratford East (formerly known as Theatre Royal Stratford East) is a 460 seat Victorian producing theatre in Stratford in the London Borough of Newham. Since 1953, it has been the home of the Theatre Workshop company, famously associated with di ...

, which started his association with many production venues. Menmuir returned to Australia in 1963 to direct ''Ballad for One Gun'' and ''The Right Thing''. His productions included: '' Z Cars'', '' The Avengers'', ''

No Hiding Place ''No Hiding Place'' is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV (TV network), ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series ''Murder Bag'' ...

'', '' Corridors of Power'', and '' The Duchess of Duke Street''. In 1974 he directed the adaptation of the ''

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...

'' story '' The Nine Tailors'' for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. In 1978, he was offered full freedom of control as producer for

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

's show, '' The Professionals''. During several returns to Australia, he was responsible for '' Ballad for One Gun'' (1963) (about Ned Kelly), and '' Special Squad'' and the movie ''

Fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

'' for

Crawford Productions Crawford Productions is an Australian Media (communication), media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, a ...

Personal life

In the UK, Menmuir lived in rural

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. In his later years, Menmuir settled in Australia at Mirrabooka on the western side of Lake Macquarie Menmuir was married twice. He and his first wife, Heidi (née Isenmann) had a daughter, Anna. He had a daughter, Fiona, and a son, Ian with his second wife, Jennifer (née Cooper) (d. 2010). His partner after this time was the actor and entrepreneur Wendy Blacklock.Obituary: Ray Menmuir 1930-2016 - ABC television pioneer who went on to direct Upstairs Downstairs and The Avengers
Storey Walton and Tom Jeffrey,

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper in ...

, 8 June 2016 Menmuir's sister was the second wife of test cricketer Arthur Morris.

Select credits

*'' Shadow of Doubt'' (1957) - TV play *'' The Rose and Crown'' (1957) - TV play *'' The Multi-Coloured Umbrella'' (1958) - TV play *'' Citizen of Westminster'' (1958) - TV play *'' Blue Murder'' (1959) - TV play *''

One Bright Day ''One Bright Day'' is the fourth album by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, wh ...

'' (1959) - TV play *'' Bodgie'' (1959) - TV play *'' The Strong Are Lonely'' (1959) - TV play *'' The Life and Death of King Richard II'' (1960) - TV play *'' Close to the Roof'' (1960) - TV play *''

The Dock Brief ''The Dock Brief'' (US title ''Trial and Error''; also known as ''A Case for the Jury'') is a 1962 black-and-white UK, British legal satire directed by James Hill (British director), James Hill, starring Peter Sellers and Richard Attenborough, a ...

'' (1960) - TV play *'' The Square Ring'' (1960) - TV play *'' Swamp Creatures'' (1960) - TV play *'' Turning Point'' (1960) - TV play *'' The Sergeant from Burralee'' (1961) - TV play *'' The Right Thing'' (1963) - TV play *'' Ballad for One Gun'' (1963) - TV play *'' Thirty-One Backyards'' (1965) - TV play *''Headmaster'' (1977) (TV series) *'' The Professionals'' (1978–83) - TV series *'' Who Dares Wins'' (1982) *'' Special Squad'' (1984) (TV series) *''

'' (1985) *'' C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1986–87) (TV Series) *'' Gentlemen and Players'' (1988–89) (TV Series)

References

External links

*
NFSA - Search Results
''Raymond Menmuir'' at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Obituary
at ''Sydney Morning Herald''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menmuir, Raymond 1930 births 2016 deaths Australian television directors Australian television producers British television directors British television producers