Jeremy Summers

Jeremy Summers (18 August 1931 – 14 December 2016) was a British television director and film director, known for his directorship of ITC such as ''The Saint''.

Background

Born in St Albans in 1931, Summers was born into a family of theatrical tradition and his father Walter Summers (1896-1973) was a film director and screenwriter.

He directed nearly 50 different TV programmes between 1960 and 1999, including ''The Saint'' and ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)''.

Career

In his early career, Summers worked as a runner and then later assistant director on films such as '' The Dam Busters'' (1955) with Michael Anderson and ''Moby Dick'' (1956) with John Huston.

Summers became a director with the support film ''Depth Charge'' (1960), the screenplay of which he also co-wrote, but he immediately turned his attention to television and directed episodes of '' Desert Hi-Jack'', ''Interpol Calling'' and four episodes of ''International Detective'' between 1960 and 1961.

A sequence of feature films followed, the Tony Hancock feature film vehicle ''The Punch and Judy Man'', ''Crooks in Cloisters'' (1964) with Ronald Fraser and Barbara Windsor'' (1965) starring William Lucas and Kenneth Copehttp://www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/65fabs/april66/datelinediamonds.html Dateline Diamonds as well as the Gerry and the Pacemakers feature film ''Ferry Cross the Mersey'' (1965). Meanwhile, he continued in television with '' Man of the World'' and, in 1965, episodes of ''Court Martial'', ''Gideon's Way'' and the film ''San Ferry Ann''.

In 1966, Summers directed episodes of ''Danger Man''; he also directed some 12 episodes of ''The Saint'' from 1964 to 1966. Episodes of ''The Saint'' that Summers filmed include "The Lawless Lady", "The Death Penalty" and "The Unkind Philanthropist" (1964), "The Abducters" (1965) and "The Man Who Liked Lions" (1966).

This was followed in 1967 by '' The Baron'' and several foreign films of that year ''The Vengeance of Fu Manchu'', ''Five Golden Dragons'' and ''The House of 1,000 Dolls'' for Harry Alan Towers. He also directed an episode of ''Man in a Suitcase'' in 1968.

In 1969, still under contract with ITC, Summers directed a number of episodes of the popular series ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', working with actors Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. In the 1970s, Summers directed two episodes of ''UFO'' and several of ''The Protectors'', both being Gerry Anderson series. Other directing credits include '' Jason King'' (1971–72), ''Boy Dominic'' (1974), and ''Return of the Saint'' (1978, this version with Ian Ogilvy cast as Simon Templar). He also directed films for the Children's Film Foundation, including ''Sammy's Super T-shirt''.

During the 1980s, he directed multiple episodes of dramas for the BBC and independent television, including '' Tenko'' (1982–84), ''Strangers and Brothers'', '' Big Deal'' (1985–86), '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (1988), ''Howard's Way'' (1989–90), and '' Hannay (1988, with Robert Powell appearing as Richard Hannay).

In the 1990s he directed many episodes of the television soap operas ''Coronation Street'', ''Emmerdale'' and ''Brookside'' (including the film spin offs ''The Lost Weekend'', ''Friday the 13th'' and ''Double Take!'') before his retirement in 2001. While on Brookside, he also directed the Liverpool FC feature ''The Last night of the Kop'' commemorating the final time the football stand was used before Anfield became an all-seater stadium.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Jeremy
1931 births
2016 deaths
British television directors
English television directors
People from St Albans
English film directors