- Born
- Died
- Karel Reisz was born on July 21, 1926 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a director and producer, known for The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and Morgan! (1966). He was married to Betsy Blair and Julia Coppard. He died on November 25, 2002 in London, England, UK.
- SpousesBetsy Blair(September 5, 1963 - November 25, 2002) (his death)Julia Coppard(19?? - 19??) (divorced, 3 children)
- He wrote his famous book, "The Technique of Film Editing", before becoming involved in professional filmmaking. It was reviewed - not entirely favorably - in the magazine "Sight And Sound" by an actual film editor, Seth Holt. When Reisz made his first feature film, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), he hired Holt as his editor and, after their first day of working together, told him, "I didn't know what I was talking about, did I ?".
- Fought as a pilot with the Czech squadron in the RAF during World War II.
- One of the most influential 'British New Wave' directors.
- Directed three actresses to Oscar nominations: Vanessa Redgrave (Best Actress, Morgan! (1966); Isadora (1968)), Meryl Streep (Best Actress, The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)), and Jessica Lange (Best Actress, Sweet Dreams (1985)).
- Son of a Jewish lawyer who fled from Czechoslovakia to the UK to escape the Holocaust.
- [on being asked how he managed to get the script to Morgan! (1966) green-lighted for production] Well, I was the head of the distribution company, so it really wasn't that difficult.
- [on Fred Astaire] Astaire is the motherless man-about-town, all sophistication, quite debonair, yet with a lope in his walk rather than a swagger, for - despite his receding hair - he is essentially boyish, youthful, innocent.
- [on actress Joan Greenwood] She speaks her lines as though suspecting in them some hidden menace that she can't quite identify.
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