- Christopher Wicking
-
Christopher Wicking 
Born 1943
London, England
United KingdomDied 2008
Toulouse, FranceOccupation Film and television screenwriter Spouse the stage director Lily Susan Todd Christopher Wicking (born 10 January 1943 in London, England; died of a heart attack[1] in Toulouse, France, 13 October 2008) was a screenwriter often in the horror and fantasy genres, notably for the British arm of American International Pictures and with Hammer Film Productions,[2] for whom he was the last 'resident script editor'.[1]
Contents
Background
Wicking was educated at Coopers' Company's School.[2] While studying at St Martin's School of Art, London, he determined to break into the film industry.[1]
Movies
He began as a film booking clerk for Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors and, while working as an assistant film editor on documentaries[3] in London, he began writing profiles of directors for the influential French movie magazine Cahiers du cinéma.[1] He was a lifelong fan of westerns and wrote movie feature articles and interviews about the genre for various British magazines including the Monthly Film Bulletin and Time Out.[3] He also continued to write for French magazines including Cahiers du cinéma, Positif[3] and Midi Minuit Fantastique.[4]
His first credit as a screenwriter[2] was on the 1969 movie The Oblong Box, initially with Michael Reeves and, after Reeves' death, for director Gordon Hessler.[1] Although Wicking was only credited for "additional dialogue", Hessler later verbally credited him as writing the entire filmed script.[3]
Television
Wicking also wrote episodes[1] for British TV series The Professionals (1979–1982),[3] Jemima Shore Investigates and the TV dramas The Way to Dusty Death (1995),[3] On Dangerous Ground (1996).[3] and Powers (2004).[5]
Later years
He taught screenwriting at various UK institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Arvon Foundation,[1] the National Film and Television School, Leeds Metropolitan University and King Alfred's College, Winchester; and, in Ireland, at University College Dublin,[1] the Dublin Institute of Technology and the Irish Film Institute's Education Department.[4] It was said that he had a fondness for "termite art" - less "precious" work that valued personal vision and idiosyncrasy.[1]
Works
Feature films
- The Oblong Box (1969) (additional dialogue)[2][3]
- Scream and Scream Again (1970)
- Cry of the Banshee (1970)
- Venom (1971)
- Murders in the Rue Morgue (1971) (co-writer)[2]
- Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)
- Demons of the Mind (1972)
- Medusa (1973)
- To the Devil a Daughter (1976) (co-writer)[2][3]
- Lady Chatterley's Lover (co-writer) (1981)[3]
- Absolute Beginners (1986) (co-writer)[2][3]
- Dream Demon (1988)
Television Episodes
- The Professionals
The Madness of Mickey Hamilton (1979);[6] The Gun (1980);[7] Discovered in a Graveyard (1982) [8]
Book
- Vahimagi, Tise + Wicking, Christopher (1979). The American Vein: Directors and Directions in Television. Talisman Books ISBN 0905983165 / ISBN 978-0905983165
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gaughan, Gavin (6 February 2009). "Guardian, 6th February, 2009". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/06/obituary-christopher-wicking. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g Jeremy, John (25 October 2008). "Independent, 25th October, 2008". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/christopher-wicking-screenwriter-and-critic-who-wrote-for-hammer-and-worked-on-the-adaptation-of-absolute-beginners-972804.html. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Times, 1st November, 2008". London. 1 November 2008. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5057715.ece. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ a b "Wicking's incomplete official website, written by Wicking himself, shortly before his death, accessed 7th February, 2009". http://www.christopherwicking.com/.
- ^ Action TV Online - Powers episode guides
- ^ "IMDB listing". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0679339/.
- ^ "IMDB listing". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0679338/.
- ^ "IMDB listing". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0679302/.
External links
Categories:- 1943 births
- English screenwriters
- Living people
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