Nicolas Roeg, a man who bewitched audiences, bothered critics and brought some of the most impressive visuals to life on cinema screens, has died. He was 90.
Roeg was born in London in 1928, and got his first taste of cinema watching Laurel and Hardy in Babes In Toyland, but he's claimed that he really got into the film industry because there was a studio across the road when his family lived in Marylebone.
After completing his National Service, he got a job as a tea boy at the Marylebone Studios, eventually working his way through the camera department from clapper-loader to camera operator, working on a number of productions.
David Lean hired Roeg as second-unit cinematographer on Lawrence Of Arabia, which in turn led to a job as primary cinematographer on Doctor Zhivago, though differences about the visuals led to Lean firing Roeg, who was replaced by Freddie Young and received no credit on the film. His name does, however, adorn such memorable movies as Fahrenheit 451, The Masque Of The Red Death, Far From The Madding Crowd and Richard Lester's Petulia, which began to show a real feel for how Roeg the director would work.
Moving into the main chair in the late 1960s, Roeg kicked off his directorial career with Performance, working alongside Donald Cammell on the gangster tale starring James Fox, Mick Jagger and Anita Pallenberg. Though finished in 1968, the film was considered unreleasable by some at Warner Bros. and eventually saw screens in 1970 with an X-rating. Roeg followed that with his first truly solo effort, Walkabout, which didn't hit it big at the box office, but remains a critical and cult favourite for its striking use of landscape and strong young performances from Jenny Agutter and Roeg's own son, Luc.
The controversial and equally memorable horror thriller Don't Look Now was next, famous for its sex scene and creepy vibe. You can read more about the making of the film here.
1976's The Man Who Fell To Earth saw David Bowie giving an etherial performance as an alien searching for water to help his drought-struck planet. Truncated on release in the States, it went on to become one of the director's most celebrated movies. Psychological drama Bad Timing, released in 1980, charted a similar stormy course, with the Rank Organisation ordering its logo removed from the film.
Among Roeg's other films are Eureka, Castaway, Track 29 and, more memorably, his adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches in 1990, which remains beloved despite its lack of box office success. Roeg's last directorial effort was 2007's Puffball.
In addition to his film work, he made a few TV movies. Cited as an inspiration for many directors who would follow him, he died on 23 November. He's survived by his wife, Harriet Harper and six children.
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