Anthony Simmons | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1922-12-16)16 December 1922 West Ham, Essex, England |
| Died | 22 January 2016(2016-01-22) (aged 93) |
| Pen name | Tony Simmons |
| Occupation | novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, director |
Anthony Simmons (16 December 1922 – 22 January 2016) was a British writer and film director. He was associated with, though separate from, theFree Cinema movement;[1] he said he was greatly influenced byHumphrey Jennings and byMichelangelo Antonioni’s movieIl Grido (1957).[2]
Simmons was born inWest Ham, then inEssex, now part of theLondon Borough of Newham, the fourth of five children – three boys and two girls – to parents ofPolish-Jewish extraction, Miriam (née Corb) and Joseph Simmons (originally Anzulowsky), from a family of market traders. He was named Isidore but adopted the forename Anthony in his teens. After attendingWest Ham Grammar School, Simmons gained a law degree from theLondon School of Economics, where his course was interrupted bywartime service.[citation needed]
Simmons asserted: "I wasn’t aiming to be a film director. I was a lawyer aiming to be a writer. But I felt that if I wrote films it was more immediate. It’s quicker. You haven’t got to spell out the words, you just make the image and tell the story."[3]
His documentarySunday by the Sea (1951) won the Grand Prix at theVenice Film Festival.[1]Four in the Morning (1965), his second feature film as director, did not gain a circuit release although it won awards at several international film festivals, and aBAFTA forJudi Dench as the 'Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles'.[4]
For several years Simmons worked in radio and made television commercials until his next featureThe Optimists of Nine Elms (1973) starringPeter Sellers.[5] His feature movieBlack Joy (1977) was entered into theCannes Film Festival.[6] His television dramaOn Giant's Shoulders (1979) aboutTerry Wiles won anEmmy Award.[5]
He also directed episodes of British television series includingThe Professionals,Supergran,Inspector Morse,Van Der Valk,A Touch of Frost andC.A.T.S. Eyes.[7]
Simmons married twice. With his first wife, Sheila Phillips, he had three sons, Jonathan, Daniel and Mathew; the couple divorced. He is survived by his second wife, Maria St Clare, whom he married in 1981, and their three sons, Luke, Noah and Micah.[citation needed]
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