David Shipman | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Herbert Shipman 4 November 1932 Norwich, Norfolk, England |
| Died | 22 April 1996(1996-04-22) (aged 63) Overton, Hampshire, England |
| Occupations | Writer,biographer,film critic |
David Herbert Shipman (4 November 1932 – 22 April 1996)[1] was an English film critic and writer best known for his book trilogyThe Great Movie Stars and his book duologyThe Story of Cinema. He was described in an obituary as "the most influential writer on film in the world".[1]
Shipman was born inNorwich, Norfolk,[1] After a period in London, the family was evacuated in 1940 toPensilva,Cornwall. He did hisnational service in the RAF, partly inSingapore, then briefly attendedMerton College, Oxford.[2][3] He worked as a publishing sales representative from 1955 to 1965, mostly in Europe, then returned to work for the UK publisherThames & Hudson.
In 1968, Shipman began work on a first book,The Great Movie Stars: The Golden Years, which was published two years later and sold well. He also worked as a lecturer, journalist and film consultant, and from 1986 until his death wrote obituaries forThe Independent newspaper.[1]
Shipman died of a heart attack aged 63 inOverton, Hampshire.[1] At the time, he was writing a biography ofFred Astaire.[4] He was survived by his partner since 1964, the art director Felix Brenner.[1]
Richard Cohen, writing Shipman's obituary forThe Independent, stated:
For over a quarter of a century David Shipman was the most influential writer on film in the world. He was never [a] film critic for a national newspaper, and was generally not seen by the cinema establishment as a heavyweight; but in the 10 books he wrote, most notably the three volumes that made upThe Great Movie Stars and the two-volumeThe Story of Cinema, he exerted an influence no other writer on film has matched. More widely read thanPauline Kael, more authoritative and more knowledgeable thanLeslie Halliwell, he always seemed in touch with the audiences for whom he wrote, and they appreciated his strongly held if iconoclastic views and the fact he was always his own man.[1]
