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Jimmy Sangster | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Henry Kinmel Sangster[1] 2 December 1927 |
| Died | 19 August 2011 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
James Henry Kinmel Sangster (2 December 1927 – 19 August 2011) was a Welsh screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist best known for his work for Hammer Film Productions, including The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula (US: Horror of Dracula), Taste of Fear (US: Scream of Fear), and The Nanny.
Jimmy Sangster began his career at the age of sixteen, working in various minor capacities for several British film companies including Ealing Studios. He joined Hammer Film Productions as a 3rd assistant director in 1948 and within a year had been promoted to 1st assistant director, becoming the youngest 1st AD in Britain at the age of 21. By 1954, he had been promoted to production manager at Hammer Films and soon began trying his hand as a screenwriter for the short film A Man on the Beach.
Following Hammer's success with its film adaptation of Nigel Kneale's The Quatermass Xperiment, the studio offered Sangster the opportunity to write the screenplay for its follow-up project, X the Unknown, on which he also worked as production manager. Hammer executives were pleased with the results and commissioned Sangster to write the screenplay for its first Gothic horror film, The Curse of Frankenstein.
for various as a at the studio, as well as assistant director, second unit director and production manager. After Hammer Films Productions' success with The Quatermass Xperiment, Sangster was approached to write The Curse of Frankenstein, to which he said, "I'm not a writer. I'm a production manager." According to Sangster, Hammer Films' response was, "Well, you come up with a couple of ideas and if we like it, we'll pay you. If we don't like it, we won't pay you. You're being paid as a production manager, so you can't complain."[2] He later turned to direction with The Horror of Frankenstein and Lust for a Vampire (both 1970) for the studio, but with far less success. His third (and last) film as director was 1972's Fear in the Night, which resurrected the psychological woman-in-peril thriller Sangster had begun with his script for Taste of Fear in 1961. All three of these films featured actor Ralph Bates, one of Hammer's best-known actors of the latter period of the company.
Sangster scripted and produced two films for Bette Davis, The Nanny (1965) and The Anniversary (1968).
Other scriptwriting credits included The Siege of Sidney Street (1960) which starred Donald Sinden and in which Sangster appeared as Winston Churchill.
He is survived by his third wife, the actress Mary Peach and by a son from an earlier marriage, Mark James Sangster [3] and two grandchildren, Claire and Ian Sangster.[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ Kim Newman Obituary: Jimmy Sangster, The Guardian, 21 August 2011
- ^ Svehla, A. Susan (Director) (2009-07-28). Fanex Files: Hammer Films (DVD). Alpha Video. Event occurs at 12:20.
- ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8745357/Jimmy-Sangster.html
External links
[edit]
Category:1927 births
Category:2011 deaths
Category:English film directors
Category:English screenwriters
Category:Hammer Film Productions
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