Anthony Harvey facts for kids

Anthony Harvey (born June 3, 1930 – died November 23, 2017) was a talented filmmaker from England. He started acting when he was a teenager. Later, in the 1950s, he became a film editor. By the mid-1960s, he began directing movies.

Anthony Harvey edited 15 films and directed 13. His second film as a director, The Lion in Winter (1968), was a big hit. It earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.

Harvey worked with many famous actors and directors. These included Katharine Hepburn, Peter O'Toole, Stanley Kubrick, and Peter Sellers. He passed away in November 2017 when he was 87 years old.

Biography

Anthony Harvey was born in London, England, in 1930. His father died when he was young. He was raised by his stepfather, Morris Harvey, an actor and writer, and took his name.

Anthony started acting in movies as a teenager. His first film role was playing Ptolemy in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945). He played the younger brother of Cleopatra, who was played by Vivien Leigh.

He earned a scholarship to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Although he acted in theater for a while, he realized acting wasn't his strongest talent. So, he decided to move into filmmaking instead.

Career as a Film Editor

Anthony Harvey began his career behind the scenes as an assistant editor. He worked for the Boulting Brothers, Roy and John Boulting. Soon, many filmmakers wanted to work with him.

He edited several British films in the 1950s and early 1960s. He built strong working relationships with important directors. These included Anthony Asquith, Bryan Forbes, and Stanley Kubrick.

Harvey's first film as an editor was a short film called On Such A Night (1956). His first full-length movie was the war comedy Private's Progress (1956). This film starred Richard Attenborough and Terry-Thomas.

He also edited comedies like Brothers in Law (1957) and I'm All Right Jack (1959). He worked on dramas such as The Angry Silence (1960). He also edited the comedy The Millionairess (1960), starring Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren.

Harvey worked with Bryan Forbes on the drama The L-Shaped Room (1962). He also worked with Stanley Kubrick on Lolita (1962). Their work together began when Harvey simply called Kubrick and asked to work with him.

After Lolita, he worked with Kubrick again on the famous film Dr Strangelove (1964). His last editing job before directing was The Whisperers (1967).

Anthony Harvey once shared what he learned from working with Stanley Kubrick. He said Kubrick taught him to stay on a great shot of an actor. This made the film better. He also said Kubrick would sometimes jokingly "fire" him. But the next day, they would be back to normal. Kubrick even told him he should direct his own films.

Career as a Director

Anthony Harvey's first film as a director was Dutchman (1966). It was a short, intense drama about race relations. It showed an encounter between a black man and a white woman on the New York subway. This film was nominated for the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.

Actor Peter O'Toole was very impressed by Dutchman. He suggested that Anthony Harvey direct his next film, The Lion In Winter (1968). This movie was based on a play by James Goldman.

Harvey also earned the respect of the film's other star, Katharine Hepburn. He told her that she was "devastating" when she acted simply. This led to her winning her third Oscar and a lifelong friendship with Harvey.

The Lion in Winter was a huge success. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Katharine Hepburn won Best Actress. Anthony Harvey was nominated for Best Director at the Oscars and won Best Director at the Golden Globes. This film also marked the first movie roles for Anthony Hopkins and Timothy Dalton.

Harvey loved working on The Lion in Winter. He felt the cast became like a family. However, he also said that having such early success made his next choices difficult. He turned down directing Love Story (1970) and Cabaret (1972). He later called this a "terrible mistake."

Harvey's next film was They Might Be Giants (1971). It starred George C. Scott as a man who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes. This film was not a big success. Harvey believed this was because the studio changed the ending.

He worked with Katharine Hepburn again on the TV movie The Glass Menagerie (1973). His next film was the historical drama The Abdication (1974). It starred Liv Ullmann as Queen Christina of Sweden.

He then directed The Disappearance of Aimee. This film starred Faye Dunaway and Bette Davis. It was about the mysterious disappearance of a famous American preacher in 1926.

Players (1979) was a romantic drama about tennis. It featured real tennis stars like John McEnroe. Harvey then directed a Western drama called Eagle's Wing (1980), starring Martin Sheen.

In 1981, he directed Richard's Things with Liv Ullmann. He also directed parts of The Patricia Neal Story. This TV movie showed the real-life struggles of actress Patricia Neal after she had a stroke.

Harvey directed another TV movie, Svengali (1983). It starred Peter O'Toole as a singer who controls a young talent played by Jodie Foster.

His last movie for cinemas was Grace Quigley (1984). This film reunited him with Katharine Hepburn. It was her last main role in a movie.

After a break, Harvey directed the TV movie This Can't Be Love (1994). This was his last film and his fourth time working with Katharine Hepburn. It was also the only time Hepburn worked with Anthony Quinn. The movie was about two former movie stars who reunite years after a difficult marriage.

Katharine Hepburn thought very highly of Anthony Harvey. She called him "a real English gentleman and a brilliant director."

Harvey explained why he stopped making films after This Can't Be Love. He said the producers tried to change how he edited Katharine Hepburn's pauses. He felt this was disrespectful to his work and to Hepburn's unique acting. He decided to stop directing because of this experience.

Anthony Harvey moved to Long Island in the 1990s. He passed away there on November 23, 2017, at age 87.

Awards

• Nominee, Best Director - Academy Awards (The Lion in Winter)
• Nominee, Best Director - Golden Globes (The Lion in Winter)
• Winner, Best Director - Directors Guild of America (The Lion in Winter)
• Nominee, Best Director-TV Movie - Directors Guild of America (The Glass Menagerie)
• Nominee, Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival (Dutchman)
• Nominee, Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival (Richard's Things)
• Nominee, Best Director-TV Movie - Directors Guild of America (The Patricia Neal Story)
• Nominee, Golden Hugo (Best Picture) - Chicago International Film Festival (Grace Quigley)

Selected Filmography

Directing

• Dutchman (1966)
• The Lion in Winter (1968)
• They Might Be Giants (1971)
• The Glass Menagerie (1973, TV)
• The Abdication (1974)
• The Disappearance of Aimee (1976, TV)
• Eagle's Wing (1979)
• Players (1979)
• Richard's Things (1980)
• Svengali (1983, TV)
• Grace Quigley (1985)
• This Can't Be Love (1994, TV)

A Glimpse of Tiger began production in 1971, but was never finished.

Editing

The director of each film is shown in parentheses.

• Private's Progress (Boulting, 1956)
• Tread Softly Stranger (Parry, 1958)
• I'm All Right Jack (Boulting, 1959)
• The Millionairess (Asquith, 1960)
• The Angry Silence (Green, 1960)
• The L-Shaped Room (Forbes, 1962)
• Lolita (Kubrick, 1962)
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Kubrick, 1964)
• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Ritt, 1965)
• The Whisperers (Forbes, 1967)
• Dutchman (1967)

See also

In Spanish: Anthony Harvey para niños