Parker, Alan 1944–
PARKER, Alan 1944–
PERSONAL
Full name, Alan William Parker; born February 14, 1944, in Islington, London, England; son of William Leslie (a house painter) and Elsie Ellen (a dressmaker) Parker; married Annie Inglis, July 30, 1966 (divorced, January 6, 1992); married Lisa Moran (a producer); children: (first marriage) Lucy Kate, Alexander James, Jake William, Nathan Charles. Avocational Interests: Cartooning.
Addresses: Agent— Michael Wimer, Creative Artists Agency, 9830 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212.
Career: Director, writer, actor, and executive. Alan Parker Film Co., Buckinghamshire, England, founder and partner, beginning 1970; Dirty Hands Productions, principal. Worked as an advertising copywriter in London, 1966–69; Collett, Dickensen & Pearce Advertising Ltd., director of television commercials, 1969–75. British Screen Advisory Council, member, beginning 1985; head of Film Council, beginning 1999; lecturer at film schools. Hospital Equipment News, worked as office boy.
Member: British Film Institute (chair, 1997–99), British Academy of Film and Television Arts (member of council), Directors Guild of Great Britain (founding member and vice chair), Writers Guild of Great Britain, Directors Guild of America, Writers Guild of America, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Awards, Honors: Television Award from British Academy of Film and Television Arts, International Emmy Award, and British Press Guild Award, all 1976, for The Evacuees; nomination for Golden Palm, Cannes International Film Festival, 1976, Film Award, best screenplay, and Film Award nomination, best direction, both British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1977, all for Bugsy Malone; nomination for Golden Palm, 1978, Film Award from British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award nomination, and Directors Guild of America Award nomination, all best director, 1979, all for Midnight Express; Film Award nomination, best direction, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Cesar Award nomination, best foreign film, Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema, both 1981, and Guild Film Award in gold, best foreign film, Guild of German Art House Cinemas, 1982, all for Fame; nomination for Golden Palm, 1982, for Shoot the Moon; Michael Balcon Award, outstanding contributions to British film, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1984; Grand Jury Prize and nomination for Golden Palm, both Cannes International Film Festival, 1985, for Birdy; British Press Guild Award, best documentary, 1985, for The Turnip Head's Guide to British Cinema; National Board of Review Award, 1988, Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award nomination, and Directors Guild of America Award nomination, all 1989, and Film Award nomination, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1990, all best director, and nomination for Golden Berlin Bear, Berlin International Film Festival, 1989, all for Mississippi Burning; nomination for Golden Palm, 1990, for Come See the Paradise; Lifetime Achievement Award, Chicago Film Festival, 1988; Best Director Award, Tokyo International Film Festival, 1991, Film awards, best film (with others) and best direction, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1992, and London Critics Circle Film Award, British director of the year, 1992, all for The Commitments; decorated commander, Order of the British Empire, 1995; Golden Satellite Award, best comedy or musical motion picture (with others), International Press Academy, Golden Globe Award nomination, best director of a motion picture, and Film Award nomination, best adapted screenplay (with Oliver Stone), British Academy of Film and Television Arts, all 1997, for Evita; European Silver Ribbon, Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, 1997; Lifetime Achievement Award, Cinema Expo International, 1999; Audience Award, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2000, for Angela's Ashes; CEC International Award, Cinema Writers Circle of Spain, 2000; knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, 2002; nomination for Golden Berlin Bear, 2003, for The Life of David Gale; also recipient of numerous advertising awards.
CREDITS
Film Director:
Our Cissy (short film), 1973.
Footsteps (short film), 1973.
No Hard Feelings, released theatrically, 1973, broadcast on television, BBC (England), 1976.
Bugsy Malone, Paramount, 1976.
Midnight Express, Columbia, 1978.
Fame, United Artists, 1980.
Shoot the Moon, Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer/United Artists, 1982.
Pink Floyd: The Wall (also known as The Wall ), Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer, 1982.
Birdy, TriStar, 1984.
Angel Heart, TriStar, 1987.
Mississippi Burning, Orion, 1988.
Come See the Paradise, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1990.
(And producer) The Commitments, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1991.
(And producer, with Armyan Bernstein and Robert F. Colesberry) The Road to Wellville, Columbia, 1994.
(And producer; also music producer and music conductor, with others) Evita, Buena Vista, 1996.
(And producer) Angela's Ashes, Paramount, 1999.
(And producer) The Life of David Gale, Universal, 2003.
Film Work; Other:
Music conductor, Jaws 3–D, Universal, 1983.
Film Appearances:
Fortunata y Jacinta, Brepi Films, 1969.
Consigna: Matar al comandante en jefe (also known as Commando di spie ), Italica Film, 1970.
Himself, On Location with: FAME, 1980.
Eejit record producer, The Commitments, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1991.
Tormented film director, Evita, Buena Vista, 1996.
Dr. Campbell, Angela's Ashes, Paramount, 1999.
Partygoer, The Life of David Gale, Universal, 2003.
Television Director:
The Evacuees (movie), BBC (England), 1976.
The Turnip Head's Guide to British Cinema (special), Thames Television (England), 1986.
Television Appearances; Specials:
The Making of "Midnight Express, " 1977.
A Personal History of British Cinema by Stephen Frears (also known as Typically British! ), [England], 1994.
The 100 Greatest TV Ads, Channel 4 (England), 2000.
Interviewee, It's Black Entertainment, Showtime, 2000.
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures, Cinemax, 2001.
Fading Images, 2001.
There's Only One Madonna, BBC (England), 2001.
The Inside Reel: Digital Filmmaking, PBS, 2001.
Television Appearances; Episodic:
"The Entertainment Business," Bravo Profiles, Bravo, 1998.
"The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money," Arena, Bravo, 2000.
"New Years Compilation," I Love 1980's, BBC2 (England), 2001.
Sen kvaell med Luuk, TV4 (Sweden), 2003.
Also appeared in an episode of Whatever Happened to ... Clement and La Frenais?
RECORDINGS
Videos:
Himself, 100 Years of Horror: Witchcraft and Demons, 1996.
Director of music videos, including "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "You Must Love Me," both by Madonna, 1996.
WRITINGS
Screenplays:
Melody (also known as S.W.A.L.K. ), Levitt–Pickman, 1971.
Our Cissy (short film), 1973.
Footsteps (short film), 1973.
No Hard Feelings, released theatrically, 1976, broadcast on television, BBC (England), 1976.
Bugsy Malone, Paramount, 1976, published by Bantam Books, 1976.
Angel Heart, TriStar, 1987.
Come See the Paradise, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1990.
The Road to Wellville (based on the novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle), Columbia, 1994.
(With Oliver Stone) Evita (based on the stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice), Buena Vista, 1996.
Angela's Ashes, Paramount, 1999.
Film Music:
Score, Jaws 3–D, Universal, 1983.
Lyrics, "Jack's Theatre Song," Come See the Paradise, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1990.
"Kaiser Bill," Angela's Ashes, Paramount, 1999.
Television Music:
Rhodes (miniseries), BBC (England), then PBS, 1997.
Bomber, 2000.
Books:
Puddles in the Lane (fiction), G. Whizzard Publications, 1977.
Hares in the Gate (cartoons), 1983.
A Filmmaker's Diary, 1984.
The Making of Evita, introduction by Madonna, photographs from the film by David Appleby, Collins Publishers, 1996.
Other:
Contributor of articles and cartoons to periodicals, including American Cinematographer, American Film, Cineaste, Films and Filming, Literature/Film Quarterly, and Sight and Sound.
ADAPTATIONS
The 1982 television series Fame was based on Parker's screenplay.
OTHER SOURCES
Books:
International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume 2: Directors, St. James Press, 1996.
Periodicals:
American Film, September, 1990.
Campaign, September 18, 1998, p. S25.
Empire, October, 1997, pp. 20–21, 88.
Premiere, September, 1991.
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Parker, Alan 1944–
