Bill Bain | |
|---|---|
| Born | Allen William Bain (1929-12-18)18 December 1929 Wauchope,New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 22 February 1982(1982-02-22) (aged 52) London, England |
| Occupations | Director,Producer |
| Years active | 1959–1982 |
Allen William Bain (18 December 1929,Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia – 21 February 1982, London, England), known asBill Bain, was an Australian television and film director.
Bill Bain originally trained as a school teacher, but became a pioneer of Australian television after he joined the fledglingAustralian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1950s.[1]
In Australia, he directed the country's first TV pantomime for Christmas in 1959.[2] He also directed the TV playsCorinth House (1961) andFunnel Web (1962).
He left Australia in 1963 for Europe and directed numerous episodes of British television series, includingHarpers West One,Emerald Soup,The Avengers,Callan,Redcap,Upstairs Downstairs,The Duchess of Duke Street,Enemy at the Door,The Brack Report, andArmchair Theatre.[3]
It was noteworthy that "For many,Upstairs, Downstairs andThe Duchess of Duke Street typify excellence in British television drama. The leading director for both series was Bill Bain, an Australian".[4]
ForAmicus he directed a feature filmWhat Became of Jack and Jill?.[5] Bain called the film "a savage indictment of the shallow education young people get today."[6] Another 'one off' was a TV adaptation of aNoël Coward short story calledPretty Polly in which he directedLynn Redgrave.[7] On location inSri Lanka, he directed an episode of the 1973 Australian-British-German seriesElephant Boy based on theRudyard Kipling storyToomai of the Elephants.
Bain returned to Australia briefly in 1973 where he lamented the quality of local television.[8] He came back in 1975 to attempt to set up a $1 million feature about opal mining.[9]
Bain won anEmmy Award in 1975 forOutstanding Directing in a Drama Series for his work on theUpstairs, Downstairs episode "The Sudden Storm".[10] In 1979, he returned to Australia for three months to be a consultant at theFilm and Television School. In 1968, he married the British actressRosemary Frankau[11] and they had two sons Matthew andSam Bain.
He died inSt Stephens Hospital in London, aged 52,[12] frommelanoma.[citation needed]
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