Ronald Neame
Ronald Neame, CBE ( born April 23, 1911 in London, † June 16, 2010 in Los Angeles, California ) was a British cinematographer, screenwriter, producer, actor and director.
Life
The son of silent film director Elwin Neame and the actress Ivy Close began his film career as a cameraman. In 1929 he worked with Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Blackmail as a second cameraman. In the following years he worked behind the camera, and received in 1942 for his participation in the war film One of Our Aircraft is Missing the directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger an Oscar nomination.
From 1942, he co-authored with David Lean and Anthony Havelock - film producer Allan screenplays for their filming through the jointly established production company Cineguild each David Lean was responsible as a director. For his screenplay adaptations of the writing team was nominated two years running for an Oscar in 1947 for encounter by Noel Coward and 1948 for Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
After the breakup of Cineguild 1947 staged Neame with Take my Life his first feature film. From then on, he worked primarily as a director and turned among others with Gregory Peck Mark Twain adaptation His biggest Bluff ( 1953), The Horse's Mouth (1958 ) with Alec Guinness on the novel by Joyce Cary, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969 ) with Maggie Smith and escape from Zahrain (1962 ) with Yul Brynner. To Neames known films also feature the musical Scrooge ( 1970) by Charles Dickens, the thriller The Odessa File (1974 ) with Jon Voight, the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure (1972 ) with Gene Hackman, the science fiction film Meteor (1979 ) with Sean Connery and the secret Service agents Poker Comedy (1980 ) with Walter Matthau.
1996 Neame was nominated for his artistic services to the Commander of the British Empire. Published in 2003, Neame his memoirs under the title Straight from the Horse 's Mouth. His brother Derek Neame made himself a name as a screenwriter. His son Christopher Neame (* 1942) and his son Gareth Neame work as a film producer.
Neame died on 16 June 2010 at a clinic in Los Angeles.
Filmography (selection)
Autobiography
- Ronald Neame, Barbara Roisman Cooper: Straight from the Horse 's Mouth: Ronald Neame: An Autobiography. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2003, ISBN 0-8108-4490-7.