Roger Mirams

deathplace = Sydney, New South Wales,
Australia
yearsactive = 1931 - 2002
spouse = Irene
awards =Australian Film Institute Award Nomination Best Children's Television Drama "Escape of The Artful Dodger" 2002

Roger Eastgate Holden Mirams (born 1918; died 2004) was a New Zealand film director, well known for the children's television series he produced throughout his career which extended over 70 years. He was born in Christchurch.

Mirams joined the New Zealand Army at the outbreak of World War II, working as a war correspondant and cameraman throughout the duration of the war, which saw him travel with the New Zealand Division throughout Italy and the Middle East. Following the end of the war, he travelled to Japan where he filmed a documentary about the war crimes trials that were held there. He then joined the New Zealand National Film Unit as a Director and Cameraman and later became the Movietone News representative for New Zealand.

He was involved in film production with John O'Shea in New Zealand, and later in Australia with James Stewart and fellow New Zealander Jim Davies. Mirams was associated with O'Shea when O'Shea founded the production company Pacific Films in Wellington, New Zealand in 1952. In 1956 Mirams founded an Australian branch of the company. In 1966 he founded a new production company, Roger Mirams Productions. In 1977 he joined the Grundy Organisation.

Mirams moved to Australia in 1956 to work on coverage of the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. He intended to work in any capacity that he could, but was lucky to secure exclusive film rights. As official Olympic camerman, much of the filming of the games was his work. He decided to settle in Australia following the Olympics, and spent much of the rest of his career working in Sydney.

The first production of Pacific Films in Australia was a WWII docudrama telling the story of the brave men who worked as Coastwatchers during World War II. This is sometimes givien as one of his inspirations for his later success, "Spyforce". He then began to work on a series of children's television shows such as "The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten" (1959) and "The Magic Boomerang" (1965). In 1966 Roger Mirams Productions created the successful efforts, "The Adventures Of The Seaspray" (1967) and "" (1969).

After several years of working on children's productions, Mirams decided to return to a more adult genre, and one he knew personally. Taking inspiration from his earlier work "The Coastwatchers" (1959), he began work on a WWII espionage drama with the working title "Spycatchers". Paramount Pictures liked the idea, and offered to fund the project. In 1971, he began working on Spyforce with Ron McLean, and the series was a hit. A second series was produced in 1972.

Mirams returned to the children's genre of which he was so well acquainted with shows such as "The Lost Islands" (1976) and "Secret Valley" (1980), the later of which was a huge hit in Australia. He continued to make quality children's television into the 21st century, and fulfilled a lifelong dream to do a remake of Oliver Twist, when he made "The Fate of the Artful Dodger" in 2002. It was his last work before he passed away in 2004.

Mirams married Gwen Naylor in 1941; they had two daughters, and a son who died in a car accident in 1990. He married Irene in 1986.

Filmography

*"When the Gangsters Came to Christchurch" (1931)
*"Broken Barrier" (1952) with John O'Shea
*"The Coastwatchers" (1959)
*"The Terrific Adventures of the Terrible Ten" (1960)
*"The Ten Again" (1963)
*"Funny Things Happen Down Under" (1965)
*"The Magic Boomerang" (1965)
*"Adventures of the Seaspray" (1967)
*"Woobinda - Animal Doctor" (1969)
*"Spyforce" (1971 - 1972)
*"Silent Number", (1973)
*"The Lost Islands" (1976)
*"Secret Valley" (1980)
*"Runaway Island" (1982)
*"Professor Poopsnagle and His Flying Zeppelin" (1989)
*"South Pacific Adventures" (1990)
*"Search for Treasure Island" (1998)
*"Escape of The Artful Dodger" (2001)
*"The Fate of the Artful Dodger" (2002)

Reference

*Obituary in "Dominion Post" (Wellington) of 4 March 2004 (page B7)

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0592026/bio Roger Mirams at IMDb]