Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films, notably The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), A Matter of Life and Death (1946, also called Stairway to Heaven), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951).
Michael Powell | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Latham Powell 30 September 1905 Bekesbourne, Kent, England |
| Died | 19 February 1990 (aged 84) Avening, Gloucestershire, England |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1925–1983 |
| Spouses | Gloria Mary Rouger
(m. 1927; div. 1927)Frankie Reidy
(m. 1943; died 1983) |
| Partner(s) | Pamela Brown (1962; died 1975) |
| Children | 2 |
His controversial 1960 film Peeping Tom, which was so vilified on first release that it seriously damaged his career, is now considered a classic and a contender for the first "slasher movie". Many renowned filmmakers, such as Francis Ford Coppola, George A. Romero and Martin Scorsese have cited Powell as an influence.
In 1981, he received the BAFTA Fellowship along with his partner Pressburger, the highest honour the British Academy of Film and Television Arts can bestow upon a filmmaker.