Peter Austin Harley Newbrook

BSC A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

(29 June 1920 – 19 June 2009) was an English cinematographer, director, producer and writer. Newbrook was born in Chester and educated at the Chester, and Worcester Cathedral schools, and the

Ewell Castle School Ewell Castle School is a 3–18 mixed, independent day school and sixth form in Ewell, Epsom, Surrey, England. It was founded in 1926 by Herbert Budgell as a boarding school and became fully mixed in September 2015. It consists of the Main Ho ...

. He began his career as a trainee cameraman and

focus puller A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers t ...

with

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

British studios at

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long me ...

in London. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he made Army training films with the

Army Kinematograph Service The Army Kinematograph Service (AKS) was established during the Second World War by the British government in August 1941 to meet the increasing training and recreational needs of the British Army. Created by the newly established Directorate of ...

and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. In 1947, with drummer Carlo Krahmer, he co-founded

Esquire Records Esquire Records was an Australian record label based in Sydney. In 1951 it acquired the Australian and New Zealand distribution rights for Discovery Records and later that year the distribution rights for Prestige Records. In 1955 Esquire acquire ...

, which specialised in jazz. In the 1970s due to the decline of the British film industry he turned to television. He worked at Granada and Yorkshire Television and spent several years with Anglia Television in Norwich, making episodes of the popular drama series '' Tales of the Unexpected''. He retired in 1990 as a senior lighting director. He was president of the

British Society of Cinematographers The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...

from 1984 to 1986. Peter Newbrook died of a heart attack at his home in

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 ...

on Friday, 19 June 2009.

Selected filmography

* '' Scott of the Antarctic'' (1948) * ''

The Sound Barrier ''The Sound Barrier'' is a 1952 British aviation drama film directed by David Lean. It is a fictional story about attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. It was David Lean's third and final film with his wife ...

'' (1952) * ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, th ...

'' (1957) * '' A Farewell to Arms'' (1957) * ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–191 ...

'' (1962) * '' In the Cool of the Day'' (1963) * ''

The Black Torment ''The Black Torment'' (a.k.a. ''Estate of Insanity'') is a 1964 British gothic horror film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by bro ...

'' (1964) * '' Gonks Go Beat'' (1965) * '' The Sandwich Man'' (1966) * ''

Press for Time ''Press for Time'' is a 1966 British comedy film starring Norman Wisdom. The screenplay was written by Eddie Leslie and Norman Wisdom, based on the 1963 novel ''Yea Yea Yea'', by Angus McGill. It was partly filmed in Teignmouth in Devon. It wa ...

'' (1966) * ''

The Smashing Bird I Used to Know ''The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' is a 1969 British drama/sexploitation film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Renée Asherson, Patrick Mower, Dennis Waterman, Madeleine Hinde and Maureen Lipman. As with other Hartford-Davi ...

'' (1969) * ''

She'll Follow You Anywhere ''She'll Follow You Anywhere'', released in the United States as ''Passion Potion'', is a 1971 British comedy film directed by David C. Rea and starring Kenneth Cope, Keith Barron and Richard Vernon. The screenplay concerns two chemists working ...

'' (1971) * '' Crucible of Terror'' (1971) * ''

The Asphyx ''The Asphyx'', also known as ''Spirit of the Dead'' and ''The Horror of Death'', is a 1972 British horror film/ science fiction film directed by Peter Newbrook and starring Robert Stephens and Robert Powell. ''Asphyx'' refers to Old Greek ' ...

'' (1973)

References

External links

* 1920 births 2009 deaths British Army personnel of World War II English film producers English film directors English cinematographers People educated at Ewell Castle School People from Chester Royal Army Ordnance Corps officers 20th-century English businesspeople Military personnel from Chester {{UK-film-producer-stub