Robert Anthony Wynne-Simmons (born 18 August 1947) is a British composer, film director and screenwriter.

Early life and education

Wynne-Simmons began to make films and write plays, poetry and music while still at school. He attended

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

in Sussex, England. In 1966, he attended

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, where he received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English Literature. The college funded the making of ''The Judgment of Albion'', a film based on the prophetic writings of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

, voiced by Anthony Quayle and

Donald Sinden Sir Donald Alfred Sinden (9 October 1923 – 12 September 2014) was a British actor. Sinden featured in the film ''Mogambo'' (1953), and achieved early fame as a Rank Organisation film star in the 1950s in films including ''The Cruel Sea (195 ...

. A copy is now with the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Career and written works

In 1970, he wrote the screenplay for '' Blood on Satan's Claw''. (Directed by

Piers Haggard Piers Inigo Haggard, OBE (born 18 March 1939), is a British theatre, film and television director, although he has worked mostly in the latter. Haggard was born in London but grew up on a small farm in Clackmannanshire. He is the great-great-n ...

) He subsequently worked 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 ...

as a film editor, and was a graduate of the

NFTS The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...

in Beaconsfield (1975). In 1978, he worked for

Radio Telefis Eireann Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

in Dublin, where he directed ''Double Piquet'', in 1979. In 1981–2, he wrote and directed '' The Outcasts''. The actor Cyril Cusack appeared in both. Also in ''The Outcasts'' were

Mick Lally Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broaden ...

and Mary Ryan, who won the prize for Best Actress in the

San Remo Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

in 1984, where the film won Best First Feature. The film also won prizes in the Oporto film festival, Brussels Fantasy film festival, and in Geneva. After a brief period directing for ''

The Book Tower ''The Book Tower'' is a British television series for children, produced by Yorkshire Television, that ran for 11 series from 3 January 1979 to 16 May 1989. Initially presented by ''Doctor Who'' star Tom Baker (1979–81), each episode explo ...

'', a children's TV series made by Yorkshire Television, he returned to Ireland to direct and write for the group of T.V. dramas known as ''When Reason Sleeps'', made by Strongbow Productions,

and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. In 1992, his short film ''Scherzo'' was shown at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, the

Chicago Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the compo ...

and the San Francisco Festival, where it was awarded four stars. In 2006, he returned as a writer to the stage, with ''The Deluge,'' a play based on the short stories of

Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christenze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote works in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countrie ...

, which he directed at the

Edinburgh festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

that year with

Susannah York Susannah Yolande Fletcher (9 January 1939 – 15 January 2011), known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including '' Tom Jones'' (1963) and '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' ...

in the leading role. In 2007, his monologue "Kurtz" was performed with ''The Deluge'' at the New End Theatre, Hampstead.

Personal life

Wynne-Simmons lives and works in

Oppenheim Oppenheim () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a well-known wine center, being the home of the German Winegrowing Museum, and is particularly known for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbru ...

, Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynne-Simmons, Robert Living people 1947 births British composers British film directors British screenwriters