Michael Powell

MICHAEL POWELL d1990. English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films notably ; The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) / A Canterbury Tale (1944) / I Know Where I'm Going (1945) / A Matter of Life and Death (1946) / Black Narcissus (1947) / The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). His later controversial 1960 film "Peeping Tom" while today considered a classic and a contender as the first "slasher" was so vilified on first release that his career was seriously damaged. Many filmmakers including ;Martin Scorsese / Francis Ford Coppola and George A Romero have cited him as an influence. In 1981, he received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award (along with his partner Pressburger) the highest honour the British Film Academy can give a filmmaker. He died in Gloucestershire aged 84 on February 19th 1990