| Alan Parker | |
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Alan Parker, Warsaw, Poland, 15th October 2005 |
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| Born | 14 February 1944 Islington, London, England |
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE (born 14 February 1944) is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.
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Parker was born into a working class family in Islington, North London, the son of Elsie Ellen, a dressmaker, and William Leslie Parker, a house painter.[1] He attended Dame Alice Owen's School. Parker started out as a copywriter for advertising agencies in the 1960s and 1970s and later began to write his own television commercial scripts. His most celebrated and enduring advertising work was when he worked for famed London agency Collett Dickenson Pearce where he directed many award winning commercials, including the famous Cinzano vermouth advertisement, starring Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins, shown in the UK.
His film career began through his association with producer David Puttnam, now Lord Puttnam, when he wrote the screenplay for the feature Melody (1971). Puttnam would later produce a number of Parker's films including Midnight Express (1978). This was a highly controversial film set in a Turkish prison that was lauded by critics and ended up earning a number of Oscar nominations, including Best Director for Parker. He was later nominated for Best Director with Mississippi Burning (1988).
Parker and Puttnam collaborated in a (1979) sixty second 'Heineken' television commercial for the U.K. which was ground breaking as it used one hundred actors in an elaborate galley slave film set.
Parker has directed a number of one-off musicals including Bugsy Malone (1976), Fame (1980), Pink Floyd The Wall (1982), The Commitments (1991) and Evita (1996).
He was knighted in the New Year's Honours for 2002. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland in 2005 of which his long time associate Lord Puttnam is chancellor. Parker is an Arsenal fan and attends their home games.[2]
One of his films, Midnight Express, stirred some controversy, especially in Turkey, where it was condemned for its portrayal of Turkish people, Turkish institutions and for allegedly damaging the public image of Turkey.
Parker's film Mississippi Burning was the subject of some controversy with some critics charging that it presented an offensive and inaccurate depiction of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. Parker defended the criticism in interviews reminding critics that his film was a dramatic work not a documentary.
| Preceded by Nick Park |
NFTS Honorary Fellowship | Succeeded by David Yates |
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