With three of the most memorable Bond movies on his resume, Lewis Gilbert was a director, writer and producer whose career spanned more than six decades. He has died, aged 97.
Gilbert was born in Hackney, and had performance in his blood thanks a family history of music hall work. He spent his early years travelling with his parents, and ended up part of their act when he was called on stage to drive a trick car at the age of five.
Following his father's death when Gilbert was seven, the young man became the main breadwinner for the family, finding work as a child actor. While his mother thought he might attend RADA, he chose instead to study directing and was an assistant on Alfred Hitchcock's Jamaica Inn. During World War II, he turned those skills into work with the Royal Air Force's film unit before being seconded into the First Motion Picture Unit of the US armed forces.
After the conflict, he worked on shorts and began to write and direct low budget movies, using his wartime experience for several including Reach For The Sky and Sink The Bismarck!
In 1966, he directed Alfie after his wife Hylda discovered the play and urged her husband to turn it into a film. The result, which starred Michael Caine, won the Jury Special Prize at Cannes and earned five Oscar nominations.
Though he was primarily known as a director of character dramas at the time, Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli persuaded him to direct three entries in the franchise – You Only Live Twice, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.
Besides the Bond outings and Alfie, Gilbert's other notable work includes Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita, Stepping Out and his final film, 2002's Before You Go. He was married to Hylda, who died in 2005, for 53 years, and he's survived by his sons, John and Stephen Gilbert. According to reports, he died at home in Monaco on 23 February.
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