Biography

Charles Crichton

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Overview

Born
August 6, 1910 · Wallasey, Cheshire, England, UK
Died
September 14, 1999 · South Kensington, London, England, UK (undisclosed)
Birth name
Charles Ainslie Crichton

Biography

Director Charles Crichton's film career began as an editor in 1935 with Alexander Korda's London Films, and in that capacity he worked on such productions as Sanders of the River (1935), Things to Come (1936) and Elephant Boy (1937) (which introduced Sabu to movie audiences). He soon left London Films for Ealing Studios, and rose quickly through the ranks, making his directorial debut with For Those in Peril (1944). Meticulous to the point of being referred to as a "perfectionist", Crichton came into his own at Ealing, a studio noted for its comedies, and among his best known are the quirky but charming The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953) and the wildly popular The Lavender Hill Mob (1951). He tried his hand at drama--outside of Ealing--with The Stranger in Between (1952), starring Dirk Bogarde. When Ealing closed its doors in 1959, Crichton's film work petered off, and he turned more and more to television, becoming a prolific director of crime and adventure series. His occasional forays back into feature films were not particularly productive, and for the most part he remained in television, directing episodes of such popular shows as Secret Agent (1964), The Avengers (1961) and Space: 1999 (1975).

At the request of star John Cleese, Crichton agreed to direct Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline in the offbeat comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988), which turned out to be a huge international hit. It was his biggest success, and also his last film. He died in London at 1999, at age 89.
- IMDb mini biography by: frankfob2@yahoo.com

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Trivia

Was the original director of Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), but was replaced after two weeks of shooting by John Frankenheimer.
Directed 2 actors to Oscar nominations: Alec Guinness (Best Actor, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)), and Kevin Kline (Best Supporting Actor, A Fish Called Wanda (1988)). Kline won the Oscar for his turn.
Father of David Crichton.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 152-154. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
In his latter career, he directed 14 episodes of the science fiction series Space: 1999 (1975), in which a large explosion propels the moon out of Earth's orbit, hurtling into space and essentially becoming a spaceship for the Moonbase Alpha scientists stranded from the disaster, that event in the story line occurring on the (then futuristic) date September 13, 1999 as indicated at the start of every episode. Crichton would die one day after that date, on September 14, 1999. Interestingly, the 9/11 tragedies would occur two years minus two days after the date in the series.