Kevin Billington (12 June 1934 – 13 December 2021) was a British film director, who worked in the theatre, film and television from the 1960s.

Biography

The son of a factory worker,Fred Hauptfuhre

''People'', 13:12, 24 March 1980 and educated at

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928 ...

and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, early in his career he worked for the BBC as a radio producer in Leeds (1959–60) and then for television in Manchester (1960–61) before working on the early evening ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'' and on documentaries for the BBC and ATV until 1967. Billington's films include ''

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer ''The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer'' is a 1970 British satirical film starring Peter Cook, and co-written by Cook, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Kevin Billington, who directed the film. The film was devised and produced by David Frost u ...

'' (1970), which stars

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

, while his theatre work includes several productions of plays by

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

, who was married to his wife's sister, Lady

Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Margaret Caroline Fraser, (' Pakenham; born 27 August 1932) is a British author of history, novels, biographies and detective fiction. She is the widow of the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature, Harold Pinter (1930–2008), and pr ...

. Billington's television work includes ''

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

'' (1979) for the

BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...

project, one of the best received productions in the series. He also directed ''

The Good Soldier ''The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion'' is a 1915 novel by the British writer Ford Madox Ford. It is set just before World War I, and chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham and his seemingly perfect marriage, along with that of his two A ...

'' (

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

1981), based on

the novel ''The Novel'' (1991) is a novel written by American author James A. Michener. A departure from Michener's better known historical fiction, ''The Novel'' is told from the viewpoints of four different characters involved in the life and work of ...

Ford Madox Ford Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals ''The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review'' were instrumental in ...

, and ''A Time to Dance'' (BBC 1992), adapted by

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documenta ...

from his own work of fiction. He was married to Lady

Rachel Billington Lady Rachel Mary Billington (''née'' Pakenham; born 11 May 1942) is a British author, the third daughter of the 7th Earl and Countess of Longford; both parents were writers, as was her aunt, Christine Longford. Career Billington worked in ...

; having met while they were both working in New York, they married the following year in 1967. The couple had four children and five grandchildren. Billington died from cancer on 13 December 2021, at the age of 87.

Filmography as director

* '' Whicker; Down Mexico Way'' (TV documentary, 1963) * '' Mary McCarthy's Paris'' (TV documentary, 1964) * '' A Few Castles in Spain'' (TV documentary, 1966) * ''

Interlude Interlude may refer to: *a short play or, in general, any representation between parts of a larger stage production *''Entr'acte'', a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production *a section in a movement of a musical piece, se ...

'' (1968) * ''

'' (1970) * ''

The Light at the Edge of the World ''The Light at the Edge of the World'' is a 1971 adventure film, adapted from Jules Verne's classic 1905 adventure novel ''The Lighthouse at the End of the World'' (''Le Phare du bout du monde''). The plot involves piracy in the South Atlantic d ...

'' (1971) * '' And No One Could Save Her'' (TV, 1973) * '' Voices'' (1973) * ''

'' (TV, 1979) * '' The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs'' (TV, 1981) * ''

'' (TV, 1981) * ''

Outside Edge ''Outside Edge'' is a play written by Richard Harris about a village cricket team trying to win a game of cricket whilst sorting out their various marital problems. Plot Roger is having trouble getting a team together for the afternoons fixtu ...

'' (TV, 1982) * '' Reflections'' (1984) * '' The Deliberate Death of a Polish Priest'' (TV, 1986) * ''

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization i ...

'' (TV, 1989)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097491/ * ''

A Time to Dance A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'' (TV series, 1992)

References

External links

* * Entry in ''

The International Who's Who ''The International Who's Who'' is a Who's Who series of reference books of notable people worldwide that has been published annually since 1935. History The first edition was published in 1935 by Europa Publications. The eighth edition (1943-4 ...

'' (2004), p. 163 1934 births 2021 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge English film directors People educated at Bryanston School {{UK-film-director-stub