About

Known credits:
27
Birthday:
1922-12-16
Place of birth:
West Ham, London, England, UK
Website:
N/A

Anthony Simmons

Overview

Anthony Simmons (16 December 1922 – 22 January 2016) was a British writer and film director. He was associated with, though separate from, the Free Cinema movement; he said he was greatly influenced by Humphrey Jennings and by Michelangelo Antonioni’s movie Il Grido (1957).

Simmons was born in West Ham, then in Essex, now part of the London Borough of Newham, the fourth of five children – three boys and two girls – to parents of Polish-Jewish extraction, Miriam (née Corb) and Joseph Simmons (originally Anzulowsky), from a family of market traders. He was named Isidore but adopted the forename Anthony in his teens. After attending West Ham Grammar School, Simmons gained a law degree from the London School of Economics, where his course was interrupted by wartime service.

Simmons asserted: "I wasn’t aiming to be a film director. I was a lawyer aiming to be a writer. But I felt that if I wrote films it was more immediate. It’s quicker. You haven’t got to spell out the words, you just make the image and tell the story."

His documentary Sunday by the Sea (1951) won the Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival. Four in the Morning (1965), his second feature film as director, did not gain a circuit release although it won awards at several international film festivals, and a BAFTA for Judi Dench as the 'Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles'.

For several years Simmons worked in radio and made television commercials until his next feature The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973) starring Peter Sellers. His feature movie Black Joy (1977) was entered into the Cannes Film Festival. His television drama On Giant's Shoulders (1979) about Terry Wiles won an Emmy Award.

He also directed episodes of British television series including The Professionals, Supergran, Inspector Morse, Van Der Valk, A Touch of Frost and C.A.T.S. Eyes.

Known for

Acting
1973 The Big Screen Actor Self N/A
N/A

Directing
1989 Little Sweetheart Directing Director 58
Average
1986 The Day After the Fair Directing Director N/A
N/A
1982 Life After Death Directing Director N/A
N/A
1981 Stainless Steel and the Star Spies Directing Director N/A
N/A
1979 On Giant's Shoulders Directing Director N/A
N/A
1977 Black Joy Directing Director 58
Average
1973 The Optimists of Nine Elms Directing Director 59
Average
1965 Four in the Morning Directing Director 59
Average
1964 No Short Cut Directing Director N/A
N/A
1962 From First to Last Directing Director N/A
N/A
1960 Your Money or Your Wife Directing Director 58
Average
1954 Bow Bells Directing Director N/A
N/A
1953 Sunday by the Sea Directing Director 58
Average

Writing
1981 Green Ice Writing Screenplay 58
Average
1979 On Giant's Shoulders Writing Adaptation N/A
N/A
1977 Black Joy Writing Writer 58
Average
1973 The Optimists of Nine Elms Writing Novel 59
Average
1965 Four in the Morning Writing Story 59
Average
1965 Four in the Morning Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1962 From First to Last Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1960 Dispute Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1954 The Passing Stranger Writing Original Story 58
Average
1954 Bow Bells Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1953 Sunday by the Sea Writing Writer 58
Average

Production
1957 Time Without Pity Production Producer 59
Average

Crew
1964 No Short Cut Crew Script N/A
N/A