Simon George Michael Relph, CBE (13 April 1940 – 30 October 2016) was a British film producer and assistant film director.

Biography

Relph was born in Chelsea, London on 13 April 1940. His father, Michael Relph was a Ealing Studios writer and producer and his mother, Doris, née Ringwood was a costume designer. He attended Bembridge School before being educated at Bryanston School. After graduating from King's College, Cambridge, where he read engineering, he became an actor like his grandfather George Relph. By 1961, he had become an assistant director for the television show '' Ghost Squad (TV Series)'', leading to other assistant director roles, such as '' Doctor in Distress'', '' Sunday Bloody Sunday'' and ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

''. On 14 December 1963 he married Amanda Jane Grinling, an actress, and they had two children together. In May 1979, Relph, Anne Skinner and Zelda Barron established Skreba Films, creating '' The Return of the Soldier''. In 1981, he created a second independent production company, Greenpoint Films, creating '' The Ploughman's Lunch'' and '' Wetherby'', the latter being Relph's favourite film he produced. Relph became the first chief executive of British Screen Finance, backing fifty seven films during the five years he was in charge, going back to creating independent films. In 1997, Skreba and Greenpoint joined two other companies to make

The Film Consortium ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

, a large project backed by British government. The chairman of the BAFTA Foundation Trustees, Relph was a member of the jury at the

41st Berlin International Film Festival The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 15 to 26 February 1991. The festival opened with ''Uranus'' by Claude Berri. The Golden Bear was awarded to Italian film '' La casa del sorriso'' directed by Marco Ferreri. The ret ...

. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to the

British film industry The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors ...

. He died on 30 October 2016 of pnemonia as a result of complications after minor surgery at Royal United Hospital in Bath. ]

Selected filmography

* '' Reds (film), Reds'' (1981) * '' The Return of the Soldier'' (1982) * '' The Ploughman's Lunch'' (1983) * '' Wetherby'' (1985) * '' Comrades'' (1986) * '' Enchanted April'' (1991) * '' The Secret Rapture'' (1993) * '' Blue Juice'' (1995) * '' Slab Boys'' (1997) * '' The Land Girls'' (1998) * '' Hideous Kinky'' (1998)

References

External links

*
Simon Relph, Esq, CBE Authorised biography
at Debrett's ''People of Today'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Relph, Simon 1940 births 2016 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge British film directors British film producers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire