Stephen Whittaker (28 June 19477 February 2003) was a British

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He worked largely in British film and television, and attended Henley-in-Arden School in Warwickshire before further training as an actor at London's Corona Academy. He began his career aged 17, as a "bad boy" in the film '' To Sir With Love'' (1966), and in the classic

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 ...

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' adventure '' The Web of Fear'', as a soldier battling

Yeti The Yeti ()"Yeti"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...

in the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

. In 1985 Whittaker took a director's training course, and directed a short training film which he sent to

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

(who had directed him in ''

Yanks ''Yanks'' is a 1979 drama film directed by John Schlesinger, and produced by Joseph Janni and Lester Persky, and is written by Colin Welland and Walter Bernstein. It stars Richard Gere, Lisa Eichhorn, Vanessa Redgrave, William Devane, Chick ...

''). Schlesinger suggested him to producer Mark Shivas as director for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's drama trilogy ''What If It's Raining?'', written by

Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directed ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), ...

. This was the beginning of a directing career of prestigious TV and film work. Shortly before Whittaker's death, writer

Julian Fellowes Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford (born 17 August 1949), known professionally as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, writer, producer, film director, and Conservative peer. He has received nume ...

spoke of him as, "the most exciting director in the industry." In 2001 he filmed his final project '' The Rocket Post'', a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island. The film had severe funding problems, and was eventually released in 2006, three years after his death. The credits bear a dedication to his memory. Whittaker died following complications from a routine surgery.

Director

* ''What If It's Raining'' (1985) (TV) * '' Eurocops: Hunting the Squirrel'' (1988) (TV), crime drama written by Billy Hamon, starring John Benfield * ''

Portrait of a Marriage ''Portrait of a Marriage: Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson'' is the 1973 biography of writer and gardener Vita Sackville-West compiled by her son Nigel Nicolson from her journals and letters. Synopsis The book relates to Sackville-West ...

'' (1990) (TV) * ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...

'' (1 episode, 1992) - "

Death in the Clouds ''Death in the Clouds'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, published in 1935. It features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot and Chief Inspector Japp. It is a " closed circle" murder mystery: the victim is a ...

" (1992) TV episode * ''

Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

'' (1 episode, 1993) - " The Day of the Devil" (1993) TV episode * ''Closing Numbers'' (1993) * ''Killing Me Softly'' (1995) (TV) * '' Hearts and Minds'' (1995) (TV) * '' Stone Cold'' (1997) Producer Andy Rowley BBC ''

Scene Scene (from Greek ') may refer to: General * Scene (performing arts), a part of the story held in a single location * Scene (perception), a set of information that can flow from a physical environment into a perceptual system via sensory tran ...

'' * ''Tangier Cop'' (1997) ... aka Heartbreak City * ''Stone, Scissors, Paper'' (1997) (TV) * ''A Life for a Life'' (1998) (TV) * ''

Grafters ''Grafters'' was a British drama–comedy programme originally broadcast in the United Kingdom, UK on ITV (TV network), ITV from 27 October 1998 to 20 December 1999 for 16 episodes over two series. ''Grafters'' relates the lives of the Purvis ...

'' (1998) TV mini-series (unknown episodes) * ''Grafters II'' (1999) TV mini-series * ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is d ...

'' (1 episode, 2000) - "A Sweeter Lazarus" (2000) TV episode producer Andy Rowley * '' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (2001) (TV) * '' Sons and Lovers'' (2003) (TV) * '' The Rocket Post'' (2004)

Actor

* ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction and horror anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were dramatisations of s ...

'' (1966, 1 episode) .... Harold * ''

To Sir, with Love ''To Sir, with Love'' is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in a secondary school in the East End of London. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall, Patricia Routle ...

'' (1967) .... Schoolboy * ''

'' (1968, episode: '' The Web of Fear'') .... Craftsman Weams * '' Up the Junction'' (1968) .... Alf (uncredited) * ''

Chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

'' (1969) .... Eddie * '' Strange Report'' (1969, 1 episode) .... The Office Boy * ''Bury Me an Angel'' (1972) .... Killer (as Stephen Wittaker) * '' I Escaped from Devil's Island'' (1973) .... Leper Count * ''Dinosaur'' (1975) * '' The Great Gundown'' (1977) .... Laredo * ''

'' (1979) .... Merchant seaman * '' The Keep'' (1983) .... S.S. Commando * '' Blott on the Landscape'' (1985, 1 episode) .... Orderly (final appearance)

External links

Obituary in ''The Guardian''website
*

References

British male television actors British film directors 1947 births 2003 deaths British male film actors {{UK-film-director-stub