Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in British television drama.

Career

Born in St Kilda,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the eldest of three boys, Hannam lived in his youth in Sydney and was educated at Wollaroi College in Orange, New South Wales. He worked in Australian radio, theatre and television. He started in radio when 15 years of age. He was an announcer at 2SM. He appeared in theatre as an actor, and appeared in the first Philip Street Revue. In 1957 he took over the TV show '' Captain Fortune''. In 1968 he moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He worked in English television, and returned to direct Australian feature films.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p96-98

Feature Films

His first feature '' Sunday Too Far Away'' (1975) marked the emergence of an internationally recognised

Australian film The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...

industry. He went on to direct '' Summerfield'' (1977) and other films. His 1979 film ''

Dawn! ''Dawn!'' is a 1979 Australian sports biopic about the three-time Olympic gold medallist swimmer Dawn Fraser, who served as technical adviser for the production, it starring Bronwyn Mackay Payne and Bunney Brooke, written by Joy Cavill and di ...

'' was entered into the

11th Moscow International Film Festival The 11th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 14 to 28 August 1979. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian-French film ''Christ Stopped at Eboli'' directed by Francesco Rosi, the Spanish film '' Siete días de enero'' directed ...

. In 1977 he said "I don't think I enjoy being a director in a way." The following year he did an interview where he criticised the state of Australian filmmaking and admitted "When I see a rough cut of a film I've done I'm usually suicidal." He called Australian television "glossy pap" and said "I think Australian actors generally are just full of superficial tricks." Hannam died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

aged 75 on 16 November 2004 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was survived by his three wives, two brothers, two children and three grandchildren.Anthony Buckley, obituary: "A leader in the renaissance of Australia's film industry", ''The Age'', 2 December 2004, p. 9

Personal life

He married his first wife Lena Melocco in 1958; their daughter Vicki was born in 1960. His second wife was Wendy Dickson, his art director on '' Break of Day'', whom he married in 1968. They divorced in 1985. His third wife was acto
Madlena Nevada
they married in 1990 and remained together until his death; they adopted a son, Christopher.

Filmography

Feature films directed

* '' Sunday Too Far Away'' (1975) * '' Break of Day'' (1976) * '' Summerfield'' (1977) * ''

'' (1979) * '' The Mismatch'' (1979) (TV movie)

TV work

*'' Captain Fortune'' (1957) *'' The Story of Peter Gray'' (1962) *''Trad Jazz'' (1962) *''Jonah'' (1962) *''

Adventure Unlimited ''Adventure Unlimited'' is a 1965 Australian anthology TV series. It was produced by Lee Robinson and associate produced by Joy Cavill. The directors included Ken Hannam. It was made by Waratah Film Productions a short lived company that came ou ...

'' (1963) *'' I Have Been Here Before'' (1964) *''Macbeth in Camera'' (1964) *'' Split Level'' (1964) *''

The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...

'' (1965) *''Contrabandits'' *''

Paul Temple Paul Temple is a fictional character created by English writer Francis Durbridge. Temple is a professional author of crime fiction and an amateur private detective. With his wife Louise, affectionately known as 'Steve' in reference to her jo ...

'' (7 episodes, 1970–1971) *''

Spy Trap ''Spy Trap'' was a BBC drama that ran from 1972 to 1975 on BBC1, and set around "The Department", a British counter-espionage organisation. It starred Paul Daneman as Commander Paul Ryan, a naval officer and spy chief, Prentis Hancock as Lieut ...

'' (8 episodes, 1972) *''

Moonbase 3 ''Moonbase 3'' is a British science fiction television programme that ran for six episodes in 1973. It was a co-production between the BBC, 20th Century Fox and the American ABC network. Created by ''Doctor Who'' producer Barry Letts and s ...

'' (3 episodes, 1973) *''

Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of the ...

'' (2 episodes, 1974) *''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

'' (6 episodes, 1981) *''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes i ...

'' (1985; co-directed with

Donald Crombie Donald Charles Crombie (born 5 July 1942) is an Australian film and television director and screenwriter. Born in Brisbane, Crombie was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Cr ...

) *'' Lovejoy'' (3 episodes, 1986) *''

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

'' (2 episodes, 1987) * ''Crossfire'' (TV drama) (1988) TV mini-series *'' Hannay'' (2 episodes, 1989) *'' Campion'' (2 episodes, 1990) *''

The House of Eliott ''The House of Eliott'' is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 1991 and 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet as Beatrice Eliott and Louise Lombard as Evangeline Eliott, two sisters in 1920s Lon ...

'' (2 episodes, 1992) *'' Strathblair'' (6 episodes, 1992–1993) *''

Soldier Soldier ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. The title comes from a traditional song of the same name - " Soldier, soldier won't you marry me, with your musket, fife and drum?" - an instrumental version of which was used as its ...

'' (3 episodes, 1995) *'' Dangerfield'' (4 episodes, 1997–1998) *''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...

'' (9 episodes, 2000–2001)

Theatre

*''One Way Pendulum'' (1962) - actor *''The Dock Brief'' (1964) - AMP Theatre, Sydney - director *''The Sponge Room'' (1964) - AMP Theatre, Sydney - director *''Something Unspoken'' (1965) - AMP Theatre, Sydney - director *''A Scent of Flowers'' by James Saunders (1968) - Independent - director

References

Notes

* 1929 births 2004 deaths Australian expatriates in England Australian film producers Australian television directors British television directors Film directors from Melbourne {{Australia-film-director-stub