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Jeremy Summers | |
|---|---|
 Summers in 2007 | |
| Born | 18 August 1931 (1931-08-18) St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 14 December 2016(2016-12-14) (aged 85) Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation(s) | Film director,television director |
Jeremy Summers (18 August 1931 – 14 December 2016) was a Britishtelevision director andfilm director, known for directing television series such asThe Saint and films such asFive Golden Dragons,The House of 1,000 Dolls, andThe Vengeance of Fu Manchu.[1]
Born inSt Albans in 1931, Summers was born into a family of theatrical tradition and his fatherWalter Summers (1896-1973) was a film director and screenwriter.
He directed nearly 50 different TV programmes between 1960 and 1999, includingThe Saint andRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased).
In his early career, Summers worked as a runner and then later assistant director on films such asThe Dam Busters (1955) withMichael Anderson andMoby Dick (1956) withJohn Huston.
Summers became a director with the support filmDepth Charge (1960), the screenplay of which he also co-wrote, but he immediately turned his attention to television and directed episodes ofDesert Hi-Jack,Interpol Calling and four episodes ofInternational Detective between 1960 and 1961.
A sequence of feature films followed, theTony Hancock feature film vehicleThe Punch and Judy Man,Crooks in Cloisters (1964) withRonald Fraser andBarbara Windsor,Dateline Diamonds (1965) starringWilliam Lucas andKenneth Cope[2] as well as theGerry and the Pacemakers feature filmFerry Cross the Mersey (1965). Meanwhile, he continued in television withMan of the World and, in 1965, episodes ofCourt Martial,Gideon's Way and the filmSan Ferry Ann.
In 1966, Summers directed one episode ofDanger Man; he also directed some 12 episodes ofThe Saint from 1964 to 1966. Episodes ofThe Saint that Summers filmed include "The Lawless Lady", "The Death Penalty" and "The Unkind Philanthropist" (1964), "The Abducters" (1965) and "The Man Who Liked Lions" (1966).
This was followed in 1967 byThe Baron and several foreign films of that yearThe Vengeance of Fu Manchu,Five Golden Dragons andThe House of 1,000 Dolls forHarry Alan Towers. He also directed an episode ofMan in a Suitcase in 1968.
In 1969, still under contract withITC, Summers directed a number of episodes of the popular seriesRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased), working with actorsMike Pratt,Kenneth Cope andAnnette Andre. In the 1970s, Summers directed two episodes ofUFO and several ofThe Protectors, both beingGerry Anderson series. Other directing credits includeJason King (1971–72),Boy Dominic (1974), andReturn of the Saint (1978, this version withIan Ogilvy cast as Simon Templar). He also directed films for theChildren's Film Foundation, includingSammy's Super T-shirt.
During the 1980s, he directed multiple episodes of dramas for the BBC and independent television, includingTenko (1982–84),Strangers and Brothers,Big Deal (1985–86),All Creatures Great and Small (1988),Howard's Way (1989–90), andHannay' (1988, withRobert Powell appearing as Richard Hannay).
In the 1990s he directed many episodes of the televisionsoap operasCoronation Street,Emmerdale andBrookside (including the film spin offsThe Lost Weekend,Friday the 13th andDouble Take!) before his retirement in 2001. While on Brookside, he also directed theLiverpool FC featureThe Last night of the Kop commemorating the final time the football stand was used beforeAnfield became an all-seater stadium.
