MICHAEL APTED
Name: Michael Apted
Born: 10 February 1941 Buckinghamshire, England
Michael Apted (born 10 February 1941) is an English director, producer, writer
and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his
generation but is best known for his work on the Up series of documentaries.
On June 29, 2003 he was elected President of the Directors Guild of America. He
returned to television, directing the first three episodes of the TV series Rome.
His most recent feature film project was Amazing Grace, which premièred at the
closing of the Toronto Film Festival on September 16, 2006.
Apted was born to a lower middle class family — his father worked for an
insurance company — in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Apted secured a scholarship
to attend City of London School and then to study law and history at Cambridge
University (Downing College).
He began his career in television, securing a traineeship at Granada Television
and where began work as a researcher. One of his first projects at Granada would
became his most famous: the Up! series, which began in 1964 as a profile of
fourteen seven-year-old children for the ground-breaking current affairs series
World In Action. As researcher, Apted was involved in selecting the children.
Though it began as a one-shot documentary, the series has become an institution,
revisiting the subjects every seven years, with Apted directing the later
episodes in the series. The series follows Apted's thesis that the British class
system remains largely in place and is premised on the Jesuit motto "Give me a
child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Now in its seventh
installment, the series is a dramatic look the lives of ordinary (and not so
ordinary) peoples' lives. The latest version, 49 Up, was produced in 2005 and
Apted has said that he hopes to be able to make 56 Up, at which time he will be
seventy-two.
During his time at Granada, Apted also directed a number of episodes of
Coronation Street, then written by Jack Rosenthal. Apted and Rosenthal went on
to collaborate on a number of popular television and film projects including the
pilot episodes for The Dustbinmen and The Lovers. They teamed up again in 1984
for the TV movie P'tang Yang Kipperbang, one of the first films commissioned by
Britain's Channel 4.
In 1976 he directed a play in the Granada TV Series Laurence Olivier Presents,
the episode was The Collection by Harold Pinter. The play starred Sir Laurence
Olivier, Malcolm McDowell, Alan Bates and Helen Mirren.
For his work in television, Apted has won several British Academy Awards,
including one for Best Dramatic Director.
Coronation Street, 1963 - 1964
Haunted, 1967
There's a hole in your dustbin, Deliah, 1968 - writer Jack Rosenthal
The Dustbinmen, 1969
Big Breadwinner Hog, 1969
The Lovers, 1970
Follyfoot, 1970
Another Sunday and Sweet F.A., 1970 - writer Jack Rosenthal
The Collection, 1976 - written by Harold Pinter and starring Laurence Olivier
Play for Today, 1972 - 1977
P'tang Yang Kipperbang, 1984
New York News, 1994
Married in America, 2002
Rome (mini-series), 2006
Name: Michael Apted
Born: 10 February 1941 Buckinghamshire, England
Michael Apted (born 10 February 1941) is an English director, producer, writer
and actor. He is one of the most prolific British film directors of his
generation but is best known for his work on the Up series of documentaries.
On June 29, 2003 he was elected President of the Directors Guild of America. He
returned to television, directing the first three episodes of the TV series Rome.
His most recent feature film project was Amazing Grace, which premièred at the
closing of the Toronto Film Festival on September 16, 2006.
Apted was born to a lower middle class family — his father worked for an
insurance company — in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Apted secured a scholarship
to attend City of London School and then to study law and history at Cambridge
University (Downing College).
He began his career in television, securing a traineeship at Granada Television
and where began work as a researcher. One of his first projects at Granada would
became his most famous: the Up! series, which began in 1964 as a profile of
fourteen seven-year-old children for the ground-breaking current affairs series
World In Action. As researcher, Apted was involved in selecting the children.
Though it began as a one-shot documentary, the series has become an institution,
revisiting the subjects every seven years, with Apted directing the later
episodes in the series. The series follows Apted's thesis that the British class
system remains largely in place and is premised on the Jesuit motto "Give me a
child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Now in its seventh
installment, the series is a dramatic look the lives of ordinary (and not so
ordinary) peoples' lives. The latest version, 49 Up, was produced in 2005 and
Apted has said that he hopes to be able to make 56 Up, at which time he will be
seventy-two.
During his time at Granada, Apted also directed a number of episodes of
Coronation Street, then written by Jack Rosenthal. Apted and Rosenthal went on
to collaborate on a number of popular television and film projects including the
pilot episodes for The Dustbinmen and The Lovers. They teamed up again in 1984
for the TV movie P'tang Yang Kipperbang, one of the first films commissioned by
Britain's Channel 4.
In 1976 he directed a play in the Granada TV Series Laurence Olivier Presents,
the episode was The Collection by Harold Pinter. The play starred Sir Laurence
Olivier, Malcolm McDowell, Alan Bates and Helen Mirren.
For his work in television, Apted has won several British Academy Awards,
including one for Best Dramatic Director.
Coronation Street, 1963 - 1964
Haunted, 1967
There's a hole in your dustbin, Deliah, 1968 - writer Jack Rosenthal
The Dustbinmen, 1969
Big Breadwinner Hog, 1969
The Lovers, 1970
Follyfoot, 1970
Another Sunday and Sweet F.A., 1970 - writer Jack Rosenthal
The Collection, 1976 - written by Harold Pinter and starring Laurence Olivier
Play for Today, 1972 - 1977
P'tang Yang Kipperbang, 1984
New York News, 1994
Married in America, 2002
Rome (mini-series), 2006