Michael Anderson

Director

About

Also Known As

Michael Joseph Anderson

Birth Place

London, UK

Born

January 30, 1920

Died

April 25, 2018

Cause of Death

Heart Disease

Biography

Filmography

The New Adventures of Pinocchio (2002)

Director

Summer of the Monkeys (1998)

Director

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997)

Director

The Sea Wolf (1993)

Director

La Boutique de l'orfevre (1989)

Director

Millennium (1989)

Director

Photos & Videos

View All

Chase A Crooked Shadow (1958) -- (Movie Clip) My Brother's Dead!

Chase A Crooked Shadow (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Our Swimming Drink

Family & Companions

Adrianne Anderson

Wife

Actor, screenwriter. Second wife; appeared in UCLA student films of Francis; Ford Coppola; married in 1977; had daughter from previous marriage.

Biography

An intelligent and dependable British-born director, Michael Anderson apprenticed under the likes of David Lean, Noel Coward (co-directors of 1942's "In Which We Serve") and Peter Ustinov, with whom he co-directed "Private Angelo" (1949), starring Ustinov in the title role. Anderson made a fine impression at the helm of "The Dam Busters" (1954), the true story of the bombing of the Ruhr dams during World War II, then followed with the first film version of "1984" (1955) before his breakthrough work on the Academy Award-winning Best Picture "Around the World in 80 Days" (1956). He produced as well as directed "Shake Hands with the Devil" (1959), a drama set in 1920s Ireland that starred Jimmy Cagney as a medical professor hell-bent on Irish independence. Returning to a World War II setting, Anderson helmed one of his best pictures, "Operation Crossbow" (1965), and followed with "The Quiller Memorandum" (1966, adapted by Harold Pinter), a spy thriller lost amidst the spate of similar 60s films. The well-crafted "Logan's Run" (1976) marked Anderson's first foray into science fiction while "Orca" (1977) proved a disappointing attempt to capitalize on the success of "Jaws" (1975).

Embarking on a career in television, he helmed the miniseries "The Martian Chronicles" (NBC 1980) and received critical acclaim for his direction of the cable movie "Sword of Gideon" (HBO 1986), a fictionalized version of the revenge extracted for the 1972 massacre of Israeli athletes at the Olympics. After the sci-fi feature "Millennium" (1989), Anderson helmed "La Boutique de l'orfevre/The Jeweler's Shop" (1989), based on a play written by Pope John Paul II. The director then concentrated on the small screen, primarily guiding period dramas and literary adaptations like "Catherine the Great" (TNT, 1991), "The Sea Wolf" (TNT, 1993), "Captains Courageous" (The Family Channel, 1996) and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (CBS, 1997). His first feature in nearly a decade was the straight-to-video release "Summer of the Monkeys" (1998) which proved more suited to the small screen. Anderson's final film was the sequel "The New Adventures of Pinocchio" (1999), starring Martin Landau as Geppetto, after which Anderson quietly retired. Michael Anderson died on April 25, 2018 in Vancouver. He was 98.

Filmography

Life Events

1935

Entered films as office boy at Elstree Studios

1936

First film as assistant director, "The Mill on the Floss"

1942

Served in the 48th Infantry Division of the Royal Signal Corps

1949

Co-directing debut (with Ustinov), "Private Angelo"; also co-scripted with Ustinov (who starred)

1950

Solo directing debut, "Waterfront Women/Waterfront"

1954

Directed "Dam Busters", exciting and intelligent film about blowing up German-held dams on the Ruhr River during World War II; starred Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave

1955

Helmed thought-provoking version of George Orwell's futuristic novel "1984"; cast included Redgrave

1956

Directed Oscar-winning Best Picture "Around the World in Eighty Days", based on the novel by Jules Verne; nominated for Best Director Oscar

1957

Moved to Hollywood

1959

Directed "The Weck of the Mary Deare", starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston; cast also included Redgrave and Harris

1959

Produced and directed "Shake Hands with the Devil", gripping drama of war-torn Ireland of the 1920s; starred James Cagney and included fine English thesps like Redgrave, Cyril Cusack, Sybil Thorndike and Richard Harris

1960

Composed music for "Twelve to the Moon"

1961

Second film with Cooper, "The Naked Edge"

1965

Helmed fine "impossible mission" tale of small band of commandos out to destroy Nazi secret missile stronghold during WWII; third and last association with Todd

1966

Directed "The Quiller Memorandum", spy film starring George Segal as American secret agent investigating neo-Nazis in the 60s; Harold Pinter scripted, adapting from novel "The Berlin Memorandum" by Elleston Trevor