Alan Parker
Encyclopedia
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE
(born 14 February 1944) is an English
film director
, producer
, writer
and actor
. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.
family in Islington
, North London
, the son of Elsie Ellen, a dressmaker, and William Leslie Parker, a house painter. He attended Dame Alice Owen's School
. Parker started out as a copywriter for advertising
agencies in the 1960s and 1970s and later began to write his own television commercial scripts. His most celebrated and enduring advertising work was when he worked for famed London agency Collett Dickenson Pearce
where he directed many award winning commercials, including the famous Cinzano
vermouth advertisement, starring Leonard Rossiter
and Joan Collins
, shown in the UK.
His film career began through his association with producer
David Puttnam
, now Lord Puttnam, when he wrote the screenplay
for the feature Melody
(1971). Puttnam would later produce a number of Parker's films including Midnight Express
(1978). This was a highly controversial film set in a Turkish
prison that was lauded by critics and ended up earning a number of Oscar
nominations, including Best Director for Parker. He was later nominated for Best Director with Mississippi Burning
(1988).
Parker and Puttnam collaborated in a (1979) sixty second 'Heineken' television commercial for the U.K. which was ground breaking as it used one hundred actors in an elaborate galley slave film set.
Parker has directed a number of one-off musicals including Bugsy Malone
(1976), Fame (1980), Pink Floyd The Wall
(1982), The Commitments
(1991) and Evita
(1996).
He was knighted in the New Year's Honours for 2002. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland
in 2005 of which his long time associate Lord Puttnam is chancellor. Parker is an Arsenal fan and attends their home games.
, stirred some controversy, especially in Turkey, where it was condemned for its portrayal of Turkish people
, Turkish institutions and for allegedly damaging the public image of Turkey.
Parker's film Mississippi Burning
was the subject of some controversy with some critics charging that it presented an offensive and inaccurate depiction of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement
. Parker defended the criticism in interviews reminding critics that his film was a dramatic work not a documentary.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 14 February 1944) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.
Life and career
Parker was born into a working classWorking class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
family in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, the son of Elsie Ellen, a dressmaker, and William Leslie Parker, a house painter. He attended Dame Alice Owen's School
Dame Alice Owen's School
Dame Alice Owen's School is a mixed voluntary aided secondary school in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, England, founded in the London Borough of Islington.-Admissions:...
. Parker started out as a copywriter for advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
agencies in the 1960s and 1970s and later began to write his own television commercial scripts. His most celebrated and enduring advertising work was when he worked for famed London agency Collett Dickenson Pearce
Collett Dickenson Pearce
Collett Dickenson Pearce & Partners emerged from the "Swinging London" cultural shifts of the 1960s as Britain's most glamorous and influential advertising agency, generally regarded as one of the finest advertising agencies in the world during the 1970s...
where he directed many award winning commercials, including the famous Cinzano
Cinzano
Cinzano is an Italian brand of vermouth, a brand owned since 1999 by Gruppo Campari. It comes in four versions:*Cinzano Rosso, which is amber-coloured;*Cinzano Bianco, which is white and drier than Rosso, yet still considered a sweet vermouth;...
vermouth advertisement, starring Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter
Leonard Rossiter was an English actor known for his roles as Rupert Rigsby, in the British comedy television series Rising Damp , and Reginald Iolanthe Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin...
and Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, shown in the UK.
His film career began through his association with producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
David Puttnam
David Puttnam
David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, FRSA is a British film producer. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords, although he is not principally a politician.-Early life:...
, now Lord Puttnam, when he wrote the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for the feature Melody
Melody (1971 film)
Melody is a 1971 British film directed by Waris Hussein about "puppy love". It was released as S.W.A.L.K. in the United Kingdom . The film starred Jack Wild, Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde...
(1971). Puttnam would later produce a number of Parker's films including Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
(1978). This was a highly controversial film set in a Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
prison that was lauded by critics and ended up earning a number of Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominations, including Best Director for Parker. He was later nominated for Best Director with Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents who investigate the murders...
(1988).
Parker and Puttnam collaborated in a (1979) sixty second 'Heineken' television commercial for the U.K. which was ground breaking as it used one hundred actors in an elaborate galley slave film set.
Parker has directed a number of one-off musicals including Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone
Bugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, as dramatized in cinema...
(1976), Fame (1980), Pink Floyd The Wall
Pink Floyd The Wall (film)
Pink Floyd—The Wall is a 1982 British live-action/animated musical film directed by Alan Parker based on the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. The film is highly metaphorical and is rich in symbolic imagery and sound...
(1982), The Commitments
The Commitments (film)
The Commitments , the soundtrack for the film, was released on 13 Aug 1991. "Mustang Sally" was released as a single. Most of the songs on the album are performed by the cast band, but two are by Irish singer Niamh Kavanagh.-Track listing:-Chart positions:-The Commitments, Vol...
(1991) and Evita
Evita (film)
Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...
(1996).
He was knighted in the New Year's Honours for 2002. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland
University of Sunderland
The University of Sunderland is located in Sunderland, north east England. The university has more than 17,500 students, including 7,000-plus international students from some 70 countries....
in 2005 of which his long time associate Lord Puttnam is chancellor. Parker is an Arsenal fan and attends their home games.
Controversy
One of his films, Midnight ExpressMidnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
, stirred some controversy, especially in Turkey, where it was condemned for its portrayal of Turkish people
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
, Turkish institutions and for allegedly damaging the public image of Turkey.
Parker's film Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning
Mississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents who investigate the murders...
was the subject of some controversy with some critics charging that it presented an offensive and inaccurate depiction of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
. Parker defended the criticism in interviews reminding critics that his film was a dramatic work not a documentary.
Filmography
- MelodyMelody (1971 film)Melody is a 1971 British film directed by Waris Hussein about "puppy love". It was released as S.W.A.L.K. in the United Kingdom . The film starred Jack Wild, Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde...
(1971) - Our Cissy (1974) (short film)
- Footsteps (1974) (short film)
- The Evacuees (1975) (TV)
- Bugsy MaloneBugsy MaloneBugsy Malone is a 1976 musical film, very loosely based on events in New York City in the Prohibition era, specifically the exploits of gangsters like Al Capone and Bugs Moran, as dramatized in cinema...
(1976) - Midnight ExpressMidnight Express (film)Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...
(1978) - Fame (1980)
- Shoot the MoonShoot the MoonShoot the Moon is the title of the fourth album by singer-songwriter Judie Tzuke, released in April 1982. It was Tzuke's first album for Chrysalis Records, after leaving Elton John's label Rocket Records...
(1982) - Pink Floyd The WallPink Floyd The Wall (film)Pink Floyd—The Wall is a 1982 British live-action/animated musical film directed by Alan Parker based on the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. The film is highly metaphorical and is rich in symbolic imagery and sound...
(1982) - Birdy (1984)
- Angel HeartAngel HeartAngel Heart is a 1987 North American/British mystery-thriller film written and directed by Alan Parker, and starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet...
(1987) - Mississippi BurningMississippi BurningMississippi Burning is a 1988 American crime drama film loosely based on the FBI investigation into the real-life murders of three civil rights workers in the U.S. state of Mississippi in 1964. The film focuses on two fictional FBI agents who investigate the murders...
(1988) - Come See The ParadiseCome See the ParadiseCome See the Paradise is a 1990 film directed by Alan Parker, starring Dennis Quaid and Tamlyn Tomita. Set before and during World War II, the film depicts the treatment of Japanese people in America following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the subsequent loss of civil liberties within the...
(1990) - The CommitmentsThe Commitments (film)The Commitments , the soundtrack for the film, was released on 13 Aug 1991. "Mustang Sally" was released as a single. Most of the songs on the album are performed by the cast band, but two are by Irish singer Niamh Kavanagh.-Track listing:-Chart positions:-The Commitments, Vol...
(1991) - The Road to WellvilleThe Road to Wellville (film)The Road to Wellville is a 1994 American comedy-drama film adaptation of T. Coraghessan Boyle's novel of the same name, which tells the story of the doctor and clean-living advocate John Harvey Kellogg and his methods as employed at the Battle Creek Sanitarium at the start of the 20th Century...
(1994) - EvitaEvita (film)Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...
(1996) - Angela's AshesAngela's Ashes (film)Angela's Ashes is a 1999 Irish-American drama film based on the memoir of the same title by Frank McCourt. It was directed by Alan Parker and starred Emily Watson, Robert Carlyle, Joe Breen, Ciaran Owens, and Michael Legge .-Plot:Angela's Ashes tells the story of Frank McCourt and his childhood...
(1999) - The Life of David GaleThe Life of David GaleThe Life of David Gale is a 2003 American drama film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph.Kevin Spacey stars as the eponymous character, a college Professor and longtime activist against capital punishment who is sentenced to death for killing a fellow capital punishment opponent...
(2003)