George Pearson (filmmaker)

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George William Pearson (19 March 1875 - 8 February 1973) was a pioneering English film director, producer and screenwriter, especially in the heyday of silent film.

Born in London in 1875, the only son of George Pearson, a silk tie cutter, George Pearson's first profession after Culham College, near Oxford (not a college of Oxford University) was teaching. He excelled in this role, becoming a headmaster by 1902 at the age of 26. His major headmastership was at Staples Rd School Loughton Essex, on which there is a blue plaque. He was originally drawn to film making as an educational aid.

In 1913 Pearson entered the film business, initially as a script writer.

His film credits include:

and over 20 more.

Pearson pioneered the use of the moving camera shot.

Pearson worked for Gaumont and later joined the Colonial Film Unit (later the Commonwealth Film Unit), remaining in employment until the age of 81. Little of his work is known to have survived. In 1951 he was awarded the OBE. In 1957, his autobiography, Flashback, was published.

Pearson married Edith Stacey (1881-1961) in 1901. They had two sons and two daughters. One daughter, Winifred, worked as a film editor. He died in Great Malvern in 1973, aged nearly 98, outliving Winifred and his elder son, Malcolm, a surgeon.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Flashback: an Autobiography of A British Film Maker, George Allen & Unwin (1957)

[edit] External links

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