Paul Weiland


About

Birth Place
United Kingdom
Born
July 11, 1953

Biography

British director whose output preceding the 1994 feature film sequel to the successful comedy "City Slickers" (1991) "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold" was marked by a comedic feature which bombed and an amusing TV series "Mr. Bean" (HBO, 1992-94). Weiland's feature directorial debut, "Leonard Part 6" (1987) was so bad that its star and producer Billy Cosby reportedly recomme...

Biography

British director whose output preceding the 1994 feature film sequel to the successful comedy "City Slickers" (1991) "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold" was marked by a comedic feature which bombed and an amusing TV series "Mr. Bean" (HBO, 1992-94). Weiland's feature directorial debut, "Leonard Part 6" (1987) was so bad that its star and producer Billy Cosby reportedly recommended audiences stay away. His next effort was a charming trifle, "Bernard and the Genie" (1992), which aired on English TV before materializing on US cable and video shelves. Featuring superior performances from British comics Rowan Atkinson and Lenny Henry, this was the story of a Black genie (Henry) who grants wishes to a recently fired exec. Weiland collaborated with Atkinson again on TV's "Mr. Bean," directing the bulgy eyed comic as an eccentric character who makes rather ordinary situations extraordinary merely by participating in them.

Weiland's commercial fortunes improved when he directed the saddle sore sequel "City Slickers II" (1994), a high-profile assignment which lassoed most of the first film's original cast, including Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. The story of the Slickers search for buried treasure in the Wild West, this continuation did respectably at the box office but lacked the snap of the original.

Life Events

Bibliography