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Ian Sharp | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1946-11-13)13 November 1946 (age 79) Clitheroe,Lancashire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Film and television director |
| Years active | 1975–2010 |
| Notable work | Who Dares Wins Robin of Sherwood Tracker |
| Spouse | Sue Cook |
James Ian Sharp (born 13 November 1946,Clitheroe,Lancashire) is an English film and television director.[1] He is best known for directing theSAS action thrillerWho Dares Wins (1982) and directing the action sequences of theJames Bond filmGoldeneye (1995).
Sharp was educated atQueen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Blackburn andDurham University (Hatfield College) where he gained an honours degree in Psychology and Modern Philosophy in 1968.[2] During the 1970s, he worked at theBBC making documentaries first for the General Features Department and then for Music and Arts, especiallyArena andOmnibus. In 1978, the BBC gave him 3 months sabbatical to make a movie calledThe Music Machine, and it was this experience that led him to turn towards drama. His first break came in 1980 with the ITV comedy drama seriesMinder. The way Sharp directed a fight sequence for an episode ofMinder brought him to the attention of the producers ofThe Professionals. He made a total of 6 episodes for those two series.
Shortly after that, he directedWho Dares Wins (1982), his second feature film, for producerEuan Lloyd.[3]Who Dares Wins was perceived by some as a right-wing film and Sharp says he lost career opportunities because of this. In a 2021 interview Sharp said: "I always suffered because of that. I was offeredHighlander and it was between me andRussell Mulcahy, who’s a very gifted director. The American producer wanted me, but on the British side they said I was a right-wing fascist. I know that for a fact because the American producer told me."[4]
Sharp was disappointed in the kind of film projects he was offered afterWho Dares Wins and returned to television.[4] Next came the first six episodes ofRobin of Sherwood for ITV, and the ensuing few years consisted of mainly television work untilRobert Zemeckis asked him to direct the second unit onWho Framed Roger Rabbit starringBob Hoskins.
In 1994, he directed the action scenes forGoldenEye, starringPierce Brosnan. His tank chase sequence and the daring dam jump which opens the picture are much respected in the industry.
After being out of work for two years, Sharp accepted an offer to directRPM, starringEmmanuelle Seigner,Famke Janssen andDavid Arquette. Sharp now regrets ever having taken the job. In a 2021 interview he said: "I read the script and thought it was terrible. The action in the film could not be shot. The producer wanted it all to be real stunts. I told him it couldn’t be done. (...) I tried to make something that I knew was impossible."[4]
His last feature film isTracker (2010), a project for which the producers initially wantedMartin Campbell as a director. Sharp successfully campaigned to direct the film himself.[4]
He speaks fluent French and German and lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, the broadcaster and authorSue Cook, whom he married in 2004.
