Paul Spurrier (born 23 May 1967 Suffolk) is a British former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

, television, and film, and a screenwriter and film director. He appeared in more than thirty different roles, with credits including ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...

'' and ''

The Lost Boys ''The Lost Boys'' is a 1987 American supernatural black comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Harvey Bernhard with a screenplay written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer and James Jeremias, from a story by Fischer and Jeremia ...

'' for the

BBC #REDIRECT 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 ex ...

, '' Tales of the Unexpected'' for

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

, and the feature film ''

The Wild Geese ''The Wild Geese'' is a 1978 war film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger. The screenplay concerns a group of mercenaries in Africa. It was the result of a long-held ambit ...

'' as

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...

's son Emile. He also appeared in ' – an Australian/German TV-Serial in 4 parts in 1982. Here he played the role of the 15-year-old boy and his adventures in the Australian outback with Aboriginal Australians.

Education

Spurrier was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

, an

independent school An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...

in the city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, followed by the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and the

London International Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London and is situated in a converted brewery in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

Life and career

Spurrier worked for the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in Great Britain and for such companies as Avid,

3Com 3Com Corporation was an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe ex ...

, and

Cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

before writing and directing feature films including ''Live on Arrival'', ''Underground'' (1998), and '' P'' (2005). The latter was made in the Thai language in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, where Spurrier has now settled. In 2007, Spurrier was director of photography for ''The Edge of Empire''—an epic historical drama about the birth of the Thai nation. In 2009, he was director of photography for 60 episodes of a Thai television series ''Nak Su Nork Sang Wian'', the first time a Westerner had performed this task. In 2008 and 2009, Spurrier was the international administration director of the Bangkok International Film Festival, and the programming director for the Thailand International Film Destination Festival. In 2015 he directed the Thai feature film ''The Forest'', and in 2019 ''Eullenia''. In 2021, in collaboration with the Thai writer, composer, and conductor,

S. P. Somtow S. P. Somtow (a rearrangement of his real name Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; th, สมเถา สุจริตกุล; ; born 30 December 1952) is a Thai-American musical composer. He is also a science fiction, fantasy, and horror autho ...

(

Somtow Sucharitkul S. P. Somtow (a rearrangement of his real name Somtow Papinian Sucharitkul; th, สมเถา สุจริตกุล; ; born 30 December 1952) is a Thai-American musical composer. He is also a science fiction, fantasy, and horror autho ...

) he directed ''The Maestro: A Symphony of Terror''.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1978) * ''

The Devil's Crown ''The Devil's Crown'' is a BBC television series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard I and John. It is also known as ''La couronne du Diable'' in French. The series was written by Jack ...

'' (1978) * ''

Lady Oscar , also known as ''Lady Oscar'' and ''La Rose de Versailles'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It was originally serialized in the manga magazine '' Margaret'' from 1972 to 1973, while a revival of the s ...

'' (1979) * ' (1982, TV miniseries) * ''

King of the Wind ''King of the Wind'' is a novel by Marguerite Henry that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1949. It was made into a film of the same name in 1990.

'' (1989) * ''

Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

'' (1998) * '' P'' (2005) * '' The Forest'' (2016) * '' Eullenia'' (2018, Series) * '' The Maestro'' (2021)

Awards

* '' P'' - Erlangen Weekend of Fear Film Festival - Audience Best Film Award (2005) * ''P'' - Erlangen Weekend of Fear Film Festival - Jury Silver Award (2005) * '' The Forest'' -

Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Prior to 2015, it was known as the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan. Inaugurated ...

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

Award (2016) * ''The Forest'' - Ferrara Film Festival - Golden Dragon Award - Best Director (2016) * ''The Forest'' - Kom Chat Leuk Thai Film Awards - Best Actor (2017) * '' Eullenia'' -

Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival is an international film festival in Buffalo, New York. Founded by Chris Scioli and Gregory Lamberson, the festival runs for 10 days which and shows films from around the world. The festival is described ...

- Outstanding Director (2018) * ''Eullenia'' - Cine Fantasy - Prêmio de Melhor Longa pelo Júri Popular (2018) * ''Eullenia'' - Cine Fantasy - Melhor Filme (2018) * ''Eullenia'' - Terror In The Bay Film Festival - Best Director (2018) * ''The Maestro'' - Casablanca Film Factory Awards - Best Feature Film (2022)

References

External links

*
Interview with Paul Spurrier
''Eat My Brains'', 11 August 2005

''Big Chilli'', 19 October 2018
Review of The Forest
''Variety'', 21 August 2016 Living people English male child actors English film directors English expatriates in Thailand 1967 births University of Southern California alumni People educated at Norwich School {{UK-film-director-stub