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John Schlesinger
Sign in to saveAlso known as John Richard Schlesinger
English film and stage director (1926–2003)
OverviewAI-generated
John Schlesinger (1926–2003) was a British film director, actor, screenwriter, and television director. Born in London, he began his professional work in 1953. He received an Academy Award for Best Director, a Directors Guild of America Award, a National Board of Review Award for Best Film, and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His notable works include *Midnight Cowboy* and *Les contes d'Hoffmann*.
Schlesinger was educated at Uppingham School and Balliol College. He spoke English and held United Kingdom citizenship. He died of natural causes due to a stroke in Palm Springs in 2003. His archives are held at the British Film Institute, and he is buried in Willesden Jewish Cemetery.
Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1926
- Works
- 9
Top works
- Midnight cowboy
- Conversations with John Schlesinger
- Midnight cowboy
- Midnight cowboy
- Les contes d'Hoffmann
via Open Library + Wikidata
Film & TV
London, England, UK
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE, was an English film and stage director, and actor. He won an Academy Award for Best Director for Midnight Cowboy, and was nominated for two other films (Darling and Sunday Bloody Sunday). Schlesinger was born in London, into a middle class Jewish family. His acting career began in the 1950s and consisted of supporting roles in British films and television…
Known for
- Innes Lloyd: The Producer — Self (archive footage)2025
- Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film — Self (uncredited)2002
- Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs — Self1998
- The Twilight of the Golds — Dr. Adrian Lodge1996
- The Celluloid Closet — Self1996
- Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties — Self1993
- The Lost Language of Cranes — Derek Moulthorp1992
- Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey — Self1990
- Pacific Heights — Man in Elevator (uncredited)1990
- The Magic of Hollywood... Is the Magic of People — Self1976
via TMDB
Key facts
- Born
- John Richard Schlesinger , ( 1926-02-16 ) 16 February 1926, London, England
- Died
- 25 July 2003 (2003-07-25) (aged 77), Palm Springs, California , U.S.
- Alma mater
- Balliol College, Oxford
- Occupations
- Director actor
- Partner
- Michael Childers
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Richard
- Family name
- Schlesinger
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- London
- Place of death
- Palm Springs
- Educated at
- Uppingham School
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Award
- Golden Bear
Show 10 more facts
- date of birth
- 1926-02-16
- date of death
- 2003-07-25
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Director
- topic has template
- Template:John Schlesinger
- cause of death
- stroke
- related category
- Category:Films directed by John Schlesinger
- start of work period
- 1953-00-00
- place of burial
- Willesden Jewish Cemetery
- archives at
- British Film Institute
- manner of death
- natural causes
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
John Richard Schlesinger (/ˈʃlɛsɪndʒər/ SHLESS-in-jər; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film, television and theatre director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood, often directing films dealing with provocative subject matter, combined with his status as one of the rare openly gay directors working in mainstream films.
Schlesinger started his career making British kitchen sink dramas A Kind of Loving (1962) and Billy Liar (1963), and the Thomas Hardy adaptation Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Midnight Cowboy (1969) and was Oscar-nominated for Darling (1965) and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971). He gained acclaim for his Hollywood films The Day of the Locust (1975) and Marathon Man (1976). His later films include Madame Sousatzka (1988) and Cold Comfort Farm (1995). He also served as an associate director of the Royal National Theatre.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “John Schlesinger” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.