Simon Wincer
About
Biography
Biography
Logging in over 200 hours as a director on Australian TV during the 1970s on series including "Against the Wind" and "The Sullivans," Wincer made his feature directorial debut with the thriller "Snap Shot" (1979). He followed up with the genuinely offbeat tale of a Rasputin-like power, "Harlequin" (1980). His best known early film, though, was the acclaimed horse racing drama "Phar Lap" (1984), vividly documentarian in its style. Wincer also did well producing the gripping, well-received adventure saga "The Man from Snowy River" (1982).
A very skillful member of the second tier of accomplishment among the talents comprising the Australian New Wave of the 1970s and 80s, Wincer was, like many of his colleagues, beckoned by Hollywood. The results have, in general, been lighter, jokier fare; Wincer's craftsmanship has clearly thrived amid Hollywood's sumptuous production expertise, even if his work has not duplicated the handful of more provocative moments in his Australian work. His first US film was the forgettable comedy "D.A.R.Y.L." (1985), and he did no better with the silly concept driving "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" (1991). Hollywood has used him several times for Australian-based stories, but the material of "Quigley Down Under" (1990) and "Lightning Jack" (1994) was decidedly less substantial than his one return home for the intriguing historical war drama "The Lighthorsemen" (1989). Wincer's most popular US-made film marked another return for him, as the likable if derivative "boy and his whale" tale "Free Willy" (1993) recalled the tone and mass appeal of "Phar Lap." He later brought his craftsmanlike assurance to his most lavish film yet, "The Phantom" (1996), joining the list of US films based on comic strips.
Wincer has scored some of his biggest successes in the US on TV. His first TV-movie, "The Girl Who Spelled Freedom" (ABC, 1986), was another of the inspirational sagas he has been occasionally drawn to, but his rendering of a young Cambodian refugee who becomes a spelling champ had a quiet heartwarming intimacy. His miniseries, meanwhile, have given him reign to indulge his considerable talent for figure and camera movement amid sweeping landscapes. "The Last Frontier" (CBS, 1986), made with an almost entirely Australian cast, was a gritty tale of property feuds and harsh environs. Wincer did even better with "Lonesome Dove" (CBS, 1989), winning an Emmy for one of the most acclaimed miniseries of the 1980s, a maturely and often poetically handled adaptation of Larry McMurtry's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of a post-Civil War cattle drive.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Director (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1978
Made feature directorial debut with the Australian thriller, "Snap Shot"
1982
Made producing debut as executive producer of "The Man from Snowy River"
1985
Directed first US feature film, "D.A.R.Y.L."
1986
Directed first US TV miniseries, "The Last Frontier"
1986
Directed first American TV-movie, "The Girl Who Spelled Freedom"
1989
Helmed the acclaimed CBS miniseries, "Lonesome Dove"
1990
Served as a consultant for the adventure series, "The Adventures of the Black Stallion" (syndicated on the Family Channel)
1993
Helmed "Free Willy"
1994
Was director of the Paul Hogan starring vehicle "Lightening Jack"
1996
Directed "The Phantom"
1999
Was director of the A&E biographical miniseries "P.T. Barnum"
2001
Helmed the TNT original "Louis L'Amour's Crossfire Trail"
2001
Reteamed with Hogan to direct the sequel "'Crocodile' Dundee in L.A."
2003
Directed "The Young Black Stallion," the prequel to the 1979 classic "The Black Stallion"
Videos
Movie Clip
