Biography

Ferdinand Fairfax was born on August 1, 1944 in London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), Jeeves and Wooster (1990) and Nate and Hayes (1983). He died on March 7, 2008 in London, England, UK.

Was offered the chance to direct the Arnold Schwarzenegger film 'The Running Man' (1987) after the original director was fired. He was also subsequently fired after two weeks of preproduction work due to being unhappy with the screenplay and was eventually replaced by Paul Michael Glaser.

Was BAFTA nominated in 1982 for directing the television miniseries Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981). The award was won by the directors of Brideshead Revisited (1981).

Started his directorial career making educational films for the National Coal Board (NCB) and oil giants Shell in the UK. Also directed some UK government funded public information films on road safety (often shown at schools and on television) in the mid 1970s.

According to BFI records, he started his career as an assistant director to noted directors J. Lee Thompson on 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World' (1969) and Don Chaffey on 'Creatures the World Forgot' (1971).

Got his big break at age 33 after directing 4 episodes of the critically acclaimed TV drama Danger UXB (1979) including the pilot show.