Alexander "Sandy" Whitelaw (28 April 1930 – 20 February 2015) was a British actor, producer, director and subtitler.

Early life

Whitelaw was born in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and educated in Switzerland, the UK and the United States."Former United Artists Exec Sandy Whitelaw Dies at 84"
He represented Britain as a skier in the 1956 Olympics."Sandy Whitelaw obituary"

Filmmaking career

Whitelaw's film career began when he worked as an assistant to the producer David O. Selznick on the 1957 film ''

A Farewell to Arms ''A Farewell to Arms'' is a novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, set during the Italian campaign of World War I. First published in 1929, it is a first-person account of an American, Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant () in the am ...

''. He also worked for the production company Hecht-Lancaster. He went on to work for

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

in a number of capacities, including as head of production for UA Europe. At this time he was based in London and worked on films including

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci (; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in Italian cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved international ...

’s ''

Last Tango in Paris ''Last Tango in Paris'' ( it, Ultimo tango a Parigi; french: Le Dernier Tango à Paris) is a 1972 erotic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. The film stars Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider and Jean-Pierre Léaud, and portrays a recently w ...

'' (1972),

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

’s ''Roma'' (1972) and

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

’s ''The Decameron'' (1971). He directed two films: ''Lifespan'' (1974), which starred

Klaus Kinski Klaus Kinski (, born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor, equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality. He appeared in over 130 film roles in a c ...

, and ''Vicious Circles'' (1997), which starred

Ben Gazzara Biagio Anthony Gazzara (August 28, 1930 – February 3, 2012) was an American actor and director of film, stage, and television. He received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to nominatio ...

. He acted in a number of films including ''

The American Friend ''The American Friend'' (german: Der amerikanische Freund) is a 1977 neo-noir film by Wim Wenders, adapted from the 1974 novel ''Ripley's Game'' by Patricia Highsmith. The film features Dennis Hopper as career criminal Tom Ripley and Bruno Ganz as ...

'' (1977), ''Broken English'' (1981) and ''

The Beat That My Heart Skipped ''The Beat That My Heart Skipped'' (french: De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté) is a 2005 French neo-noir drama film directed by Jacques Audiard and starring Romain Duris. It is a remake of the 1978 American film ''Fingers'', and tells the story ...

'' (2005). Whitelaw began to work as a subtitler in the 1970s in Paris. It was the producer Pierre Cottrell who suggested that he subtitle

Jean Eustache Jean Eustache (; 30 November 1938 – 5 November 1981) was a French filmmaker. During his short career, he completed numerous short films, in addition to a pair of highly regarded features, of which the first, ''The Mother and the Whore'', is c ...

's film '' Mes petites amoureuses''. He continued to work as a subtitler for four decades.

Films subtitled

Whitelaw provided English subtitles for more than 1,000 films over a period of several decades. He once called it "like getting paid to do crosswords"."Anthony Paletta, Lost in Translation, Found in Subtitles, ''New York Times'', 3 October 2012"
One of the more challenging jobs he took on was the subtitling, with Stephen O'Shea, of

Mathieu Kassovitz Mathieu Kassovitz (; born 3 August 1967) is a French actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter. He is the founder of MNP Entreprise, a film production company. He has won three César Awards: Most Promising Actor for '' See How They ...

's 1995 film ''

La Haine ''La Haine'' (, ; released in the United States as ''Hate'') is a 1995 French crime drama film written, co-edited, and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, the film chronicles a day and nig ...

''. Their subtitles for this film received considerable critical attention."A Raw French Film Survives Translation"
Notable titles subtitled by Whitelaw include: *'' Mes petites amoureuses'' (Eustache, 1974) *''

Pauline at the Beach ''Pauline at the Beach'' (french: Pauline à la plage) is a 1983 French romantic comedy film directed by Éric Rohmer. The film stars Amanda Langlet, Arielle Dombasle, Pascal Greggory and Féodor Atkine. It is the third in the 1980s series "Comed ...

'' (Rohmer, 1983) *''

Danton Georges Jacques Danton (; 26 October 1759 – 5 April 1794) was a French lawyer and a leading figure in the French Revolution. He became a deputy to the Paris Commune, presided in the Cordeliers district, and visited the Jacobin club. In August ...

'' (Wajda, 1983) *''

Shoah The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...

'' (Lanzmann, 1985) *''

'' (Kassovitz, 1995) *''

Heading South ''Heading South'' (french: Vers le sud) is a 2005 French-Canadian-Belgian drama film directed by Laurent Cantet and based on three short stories by Dany Laferrière. It depicts the experiences of three middle-aged white women in the late 1970s, tr ...

'' (Cantet, 2005) *''

Quai d'Orsay The Quai d'Orsay ( , ) is a quay in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is part of the left bank of the Seine opposite the Place de la Concorde. The Quai becomes the Quai Anatole-France east of the Palais Bourbon, and the Quai Branly west of th ...

'' (Tavernier, 2013)

Filmography

References

External links

David Thompson, Sandy Whitelaw obituary, ''The Guardian'', 24 March 2015

Cheryl Cheng, Sandy Whitelaw obituary, ''The Hollywood Reporter'', 23 April 2015
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitelaw, Sandy 2015 deaths 1930 births British film directors British male film actors British film producers British subtitlers British male alpine skiers Olympic alpine skiers of Great Britain Alpine skiers at the 1956 Winter Olympics 20th-century British translators