Claude Whatham (7 December 1927 in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
– 4 January 2008 in
Anglesey
Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
) was an English film and TV
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
mainly known for his work on dramas.
Early life
In 1940, Whatham, a teenage evacuee art student, had been commissioned to paint fairytale pictures by the young
Princess Elizabeth and
Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...
at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
the series of portraits by Sir
Thomas Lawrence
Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at t ...
that usually line the walls of the
Waterloo Chamber were removed from their frames for safe keeping and replaced by his fairytale pictures, painted on wallpapers rolls. In 2020 Whatham's works were exhibited in the Waterloo Chamber.
Career
Whatham attended
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
Art School and was a set designer for the
Oldham Repertory Company,
before joining
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
where he made documentaries and dramas including ''
The Younger Generation
''The Younger Generation'' is a 1929 American part-talkie drama film directed by Frank Capra and starring Ricardo Cortez. It was produced by Jack Cohn for Columbia Pictures. It was Capra's first sound film. While mostly silent, the film has t ...
'' featuring a young
John Thaw
John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series ''Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...
, and ''
You in Your Small Corner
"You in Your Small Corner" is a British television play shown in the ''Play of the Week'' series on the Independent Television (ITV) on 5 June 1962. It was formerly believed to include the first televised interracial kiss on British television ...
''. He then moved to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. Other television directing included the adaptation of
''.
*''Frontiers'' (1967 documentary short)
*''All's Well That Ends Well'' (1968 TV film)
*''Cider with Rosie'' (1971 TV film)
*''
'' (1975 TV film)
*''The Inventing of America'' (1975 TV documentary)
*''Betzi'' (1978 TV film)
*''Facing the Sun'' (1980 film)
*''
'' (1981)
*''Can I Help You?'' (1981 short)
*''Murder Is Easy'' (1982 TV film)
*''
'' (1983 TV film)
*''Tornado'' (1985 documentary short)
*''Murder Elite'' (1985)
*''Jumping the Queue'' (1989 TV miniseries)
*''