David Wheatley (director)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Rogerson Wheatley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 December 1949 |
| Died | 5 April 2009 (aged 59) |
| Occupations | Film and television director |
David Rogerson Wheatley (20 December 1949 – 5 April 2009) was a British film and television director.[1]
His Royal College of Art graduation film was on the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte, after his tutor Gavin Millar showed him a book on the artist. The film was screened as part of the BBC's arts' programmes Omnibus in 1979. From that year, he contributed films to the Omnibus and Arena series,[1] before branching out into other areas in the mid 1980s.
He directed The Magic Toyshop (1987), a fantasy film based on the Angela Carter novel, which Carter adapted herself, and several social dramas set in the north of England. In the early 1990s he directed a series of Catherine Cookson adaptations for Tyne Tees which gained audiences of 14 million. He also directed episodes of Fat Friends and Dalziel and Pascoe.[1]
Wheatley was married to Melanie Pringle for 10 years, and they had a son, Alexander. Later, he was in a relationship with film editor Camilla Tress, and they had a daughter, Francesca.[1] He died after a long illness on 5 April 2009, aged 59.
