Terence Young (director)

Infobox Actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Terence Young
birthdate = June 20, 1915
location = Shanghai, China
deathdate = death date and age|1994|09|7|1915|06|20
deathplace = Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France
spouse = Dorothea Bennett
Sabine Sun

Stewart Terence Herbert Young (June 20, 1915 – September 7, 1994) was a British film director, born in Shanghai, China, was public-school educated, and read [http://www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/oriental/ Oriental History] at St Catharine's College in the University of Cambridge (like the fictional James Bond - see below). He was probably best known for directing three films, including the first, in the James Bond series: "Dr. No" (1962), "From Russia with Love" (1963), and "Thunderball" (1965).

As a tank commander during World War II, Young participated in the battle at Arnhem, Netherlands. In 1946, he was one of the directors of the film "Theirs is the Glory", which recaptured the fighting around Arnhem bridge, (Arnhem was home to the adolescent Audrey Hepburn). During the filming of "Wait Until Dark", Hepburn and Young would joke that he was shelling his favorite star without even knowing it.

Young began as a screenwriter in British films of the 1940s and 1950s (working, for example, on "Dangerous Moonlight"), and co-directed with Brian Desmond Hurst a film about the Battle of Arnhem "Theirs is the Glory". Young's first sole credit as director was "Corridor of Mirrors" (1948) an acclaimed film made in France.

After directing a few English films, Young began directing several films for Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli's Warwick Films in the 1950s, including "The Red Beret" with Alan Ladd; this association lead to his being offered the directorship of the first two James Bond films.

"Terence Young WAS James Bond" wrote Robert Cotton [ [http://www.hmss.com/films/young.htm Who Created James Bond?] ] There is little doubt Young fit the profile of Bond - the erudite, sophisticated lady killer, dressed in Savile Row suits, always witty, well-versed in wine, and comfortable at home and abroad. Cotton commented, "As Lois Maxwell related in one of Connery's many biographies, 'Terence took Sean under his wing. He took him to dinner, showed him how to walk, how to talk, even how to eat.' Some of the cast remarked that Connery was simply doing a Terence Young impression, but Young and Connery knew they were on the right track." During the filming of "From Russia with Love", Young and a photographer nearly drowned when their helicopter crashed into the sea while filming a key sequence. They were rescued by other members of the film crew. Ever the tough guy, Young was back behind the camera thirty minutes after being rescued.

After "The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders" with husband and wife team Richard Johnson and Kim Novak in roles originally considered for Sean Connery and Diane Cilento [ [http://www.seanconneryonline.net/art_ms0465.htm Sean Connery Online | Modern Screen April 1965 ] ] , "Thunderball" and "Wait Until Dark" with Audrey Hepburn, Young never made any films as popular. He made many films in Europe such as "The Poppy Is Also a Flower" (1965), "Triple Cross" (1967) a story of Eddie Chapman starring Christopher Plummer, "Mayerling" (1968), L'Arbre de Noel(US: The Christmas Tree aka When Wolves Cry) starring William Holden (1969), and several films with Charles Bronson such as "Red Sun" and "The Valachi Papers (1972 film)". According to Young, he said that he was offered and turned down the direction of "For Your Eyes Only (film)" and "Never Say Never Again".

Young also replaced the original directors of "The Klansman" and "The Jigsaw Man". He undertook Sidney Sheldon's "Bloodline" and "Inchon" (1981). Mark Bowden states in [http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200205/bowden Tales of the Tyrant] , published in "The Atlantic Monthly", that Young was the editor of "The Long Days", a 6 hour Iraqi telenovela about the life of Saddam Hussein.

Young died of a heart attack at the age of 79 in Cannes on the Côte d'Azur in France.

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External links

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*imdb name|id=0950109|name= Terence Young

succession box
title=James Bond film director
years=1962-1963
before="none"
after=Guy Hamilton
1964succession box
title=James Bond film director
years=1965
before=Guy Hamilton
1964
after=Lewis Gilbert
1967