System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Sir David Lean
March 25, 1908 - April 16, 1991
David Lean was born on March 25, 1908 in Croydon, England. He came out of a strict religious background, in which movies were forbidden, to become one of the world's most celebrated filmmakers.
Beginning as a tea-boy at Gaumont in 1927, later served as a claperboy and messenger, and worked his way up to editor of newsreel footage in 1930 and of feature films in 1934. At that time sound films -- with their special requirements -- were coming in, and by the mid-1930s was regarded as one of the top men in his field. Among the films he edited were Pygmallion (1938), 49th Parallel (1941), and One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942). Lean began his career as a director in 1942, In Which We Serve, which he co-directed with Noel Coward. His next three films were adaptations of Coward works.
Lean directed three films starring his second (1949-57) wife, Ann Todd (his first wife was actress Kay Walsh). Of these three films, the most interesting is the documentary-style The Sound Barrier/Breaking Through the Sound Barrier with a memorable performance from John Mills.
In 1957, Lean moved out of England and into international production with his war story The Bridge on The River Kwai, for which he won an Academy Award as well as another New York Film Critics Award. He received another Oscar in 1962 for Lawrence of Arabia based on the life and military career of World War I British hero T. E. Lawrence.
Next came Doctor Zhivago (1965), a romantic tale about life in Russia around the time of the revolution, opened to mixed reviews but went on to become one of the top-grossing movies of the 1960s, despite a three-hour running time. His next movie, the multi-million dollar, 200-minute Ryan's Daughter (1970) fared far less well. Disheartened by its reception, he took a 14-year hiatus, returning with the well-received A Passage to India (1984). Also in 1984, having directed 18 films, the writer, editor, actor and producer was knighted. He was working on his next movie, Nostromo, based on Joseph Conrad's book, at the time of his death of pneumonia, on April 16, 1991, at the age of 83.
