Guy Green

Cast · Director · Writer

Born

November 5, 1913 · Frome, Somerset, England, UK

Died

September 15, 2005

Birth name

Guy Mervin Charles Green

Guy Green is well known to film audiences. Formerly a cinematographer, he was the first British D.P. to receive an Academy Award for his black-and-white photography on David Lean's Great Expectations (1946). He founded the British Society of Cinematographers together with Freddie Young and Jack Cardiff. Green worked with Lean on several films, and it was this close association that inspired him to give up cinematography at the height of his career to become a director. While directing two early pictures, Triple Deception (1956) and Desert Patrol (1958), Green became associated with actors Richard Attenborough and Michael Craig, and The Angry Silence (1960) was first conceived when the three were involved in filming "Sea Of Sand" in the 140-degree heat of the Libyan desert. The film became a landmark in the careers of all concerned, and brought Green international attention. It was Britain's first entry at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the International Critic's Award. "The Angry Silence" was followed by The Mark (1961), which was critically applauded both in the US and Europe. Rod Steiger and Stuart Whitman give outstanding performances and Whitman was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor. The picture received the Samuel Goldwyn International Award and many other accolades. Next came Light in the Piazza (1962), Green's first American production for MGM, followed by Diamond Head (1962) and the much acclaimed A Patch of Blue (1965). The screenplay for "Patch Of Blue," which was written by Green, was nominated for a Writer's Guild award and later received five Academy nominations, including Best Actress for newcomer Elizabeth Hartman. Shelley Winters received an Academy Award for her supporting performance as the mother. Green then directed Luther (1974), the screen version of John Osborne's play, for the prestigious American Film Theater, with Stacy Keach in the leading role. Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough (1975) followed and subsequently he has directed a number of important made-for-television movies. Born in the west of England, Green had a love of movies at a very young age. His first job was as a projectionist aboard the ocean liner The Majestic, which brought him to America for the first time. He also worked in London as a portrait photographer and as an assistant cameraman for an advertising agency. Eventually he managed to land a job as a camera assistant at Shepperton Studios in London and worked his way up from there. He met his wife Josephine while they were both working on David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948)/ They have two children, Marilyn and Michael, who both work in the film industry.