Mike Leigh

Born: 1943-02-20

Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s his career moved between work for the theatre and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterized by a gritty "kitchen sink realism" style. His well-known films include Life is Sweet (1990), the comedy-drama Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are arguably Naked (1993) for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the BAFTA-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies (1996) and Golden Lion winner Vera Drake (2004). His films and stage plays, according to the critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period."  Coveney further noted Leigh's role in helping to create stars – Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked – and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years – including Sheila Kelley, Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Eric Richard, Julie Walters – "comprises an impressive, almost representative, nucleus of outstanding British acting talent."  Ian Buruma, writing in the New York Review of Books in January 1994, noted: "It is hard to get on a London bus or listen to the people at the next table in a cafeteria without thinking of Mike Leigh. Like other wholly original artists, he has staked out his own territory. Leigh's London is as distinctive as Fellini's Rome or Ozu's Tokyo." Description above from the Wikipedia article Mike Leigh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.


Placeholder

Inside the Golden Statue

as Self
Released: 1998-01-01

A behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for the live broadcast of the 69th Annual Academy...

Movie page

Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today

as Self
Released: 2020-10-12

Marking Play for Today’s 50th anniversary, Drama Out of a Crisis is a compelling exploration of...

Movie page

What Is Cinema?

as Self
Released: 2013-09-06

Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock...

Movie page

Why Are We (Not) Creative?

as Self
Released: 2021-10-20

In this second installment of his exploration of creativity, Hermann Vaske looks for factors...

Movie page

Vittorio D.

as Self
Released: 2009-09-17

A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and...

Movie page

Scenes from A Separation

as Self
Released: 2018-10-04

Scenes from A Separation

Movie page

All About 'Abigail's Party'

as Self
Released: 2007-01-01

A look at the production of Play for Today: Abigail's Party (1977).

Movie page

Cannes Uncut

as Self
Released: 2023-06-12

Looks at the glamour, red carpets, movies, craziness, stunts, deals, parties and personalities...

Movie page

Welcome to Hollywood

as Mike Leigh
Released: 1998-10-01

A film director decides to chart the course of a young actor as he tries to make it in Hollywood...

Movie page

Cinema16: British Short Films

as Self - Commentary, The Short & Curlies (voice)
Released: 2003-05-05

This critically acclaimed DVD contains 16 of the best classic and award winning British short...

Movie page

Her Name Was Moviola

as Self
Released: 2024-06-14

A documentary about cutting film... the way it used to be done.

Movie page

The One Show

as Self - Guest
First aired: 2006-08-14

A topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One.

TV Show page

The Alan Titchmarsh Show

as Self
First aired: 2007-09-03

The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was...

TV Show page

Maigret

as uncredited
First aired: 1960-10-31

BBC series based on the novels by Georges Simenon which starred Rupert Davies as Inspector...

TV Show page

The Oscars

as Self
First aired: 1953-03-19

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...

TV Show page

The Culture Show

as Self
First aired: 2004-11-11

A weekly BBC Two magazine programme focusing on the best of the week's arts and culture news,...

TV Show page

Reel Britannia

as Self
First aired: 2022-06-09

Comedian Nick Helm narrates this bold new documentary series exploring the dramatic history of...

TV Show page