The Filmgoer's Companion, now published as ''Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies'', is an encyclopedic reference of film

actors An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

, film technicians (cameramen, editors, score composers, and the many other specialist required to make a movie),

directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

producers Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

who have produced or performed in the cinema. The format is a brief biographic introduction, followed by a list of films that they have association. It was originally written by

Leslie Halliwell Robert James Leslie Halliwell (23 February 1929 – 21 January 1989) was a British film critic, encyclopaedist and television rights buyer for ITV, the British commercial network, and Channel 4. He is best known for his reference guides, '' Fi ...

, but since his death in 1989, it has been edited by John Walker. The second half of the book contains information on film themes and genres, a listing of production companies and

film studios A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the productio ...

, a glossary, and some movie awards. The first edition, published in 1965, included an introduction by Alfred Hitchcock.

Latest edition

The 4th edition of ''Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies'' (i.e. the 16th edition of ''The Filmgoer's Companion'') (2006) () contains 656 pages. Film guides Books about film Biographical dictionaries {{film-book-stub