John Irvin obit

John Irvin Dies: Director Of ‘Hamburger Hill’ & TV Drama ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ Was 86

 

He was not on the list.

British filmmaker John Irvin, known for action movies including Hamburger Hill and Raw Deal and the BAFTA-winning TV series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, has died. He was 86.

According to Irvin’s producers, the filmmaker died peacefully at the UK home of his sister-in-law on August 11, surrounded by his family.

Irvin made more than 30 features in a career that spanned TV, documentaries and independent film.

He was known for his versatility and breadth of career. In a 2021 interview with Roel Haanen, it was written: “Not many filmmakers directed both Fred Astaire and Patrick Swayze. Or followed up a tender, thoughtful film written by Harold Pinter with an Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick. But John did …”

Born to parents Charles and Elsie Winifred Irvin (neé Bending), his father Charles was a mechanical engineer who during the war joined the Royal Engineers and was deployed to the Middle East where he was involved in the construction of the Iran-Iraq Pipeline transporting oil from the Middle East. John Charles Greenway Irvin and his twin brother, David, were born in Wallasey Cheshire, on May 7, 1940. Both went to Durham School, a renowned chorister school where John featured prominently in the choir. He was also a keen boxer and rowed competitively for Durham College.

Irvin opted not to go to university; for a short while he taught Latin in a preparatory school to fund his enrollment into the London Film School. He began his career working for British Movietone News. He directed his first film Gala Day (1963), a documentary financed by the British Film Institute, which was bought by the BBC. Within the same year his documentary short Inheritance was released. It was a film about the aftermath of the Algerian War, narrated by the legendary Richard Burton. It would win Irvin his first BAFTA, presented to him by Audrey Hepburn. The filmmaker would go on to be nominated for BAFTAs in three decades: the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

Throughout the ’60s, Irvin made a number of acclaimed documentaries for his own company Mithras Films. He also worked during this time for the BBC and ITV, where his work included several short films starring the young actors Edward Fox and Anthony Hopkins. Irvin gave Hopkins his first TV role in The Peasants Revolt (1969); culminating in the same year was his omnibus film Beautiful, Beautiful, an acclaimed documentary that highlighted photojournalists and the work of the war photographers who defined visual reporting in the 1960s. It featured Don McCullin, Larry Burrows, Bruce Davidson and Eugene Smith and was shot primarily in Vietnam, Northern Ireland and various conflict zones.

At the start of the ’70s, Irvin began a prolific career in TV drama. He directed acclaimed The Nearly Man and Hard Times starring Timothy West for Granada TV. Then followed the acclaimed John Le Carre TV adaptation Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) for the BBC. Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Patrick Stewart, Beryl Reid and Michael Jayston starred in the series, which scored multiple BAFTA wins and was Emmy-nominated in the U.S.

Guinness wrote in later years about Irvin that he “admired a director with balls behind the camera!”

For the next 30 years Irvin worked closely with Hollywood and various studios. First up of note was The Dogs of War (1980), an adaptation of the bestselling Fredrick Forsyth book starring Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger. Irvin followed that with the horror film Ghost Story (1981) starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr and John Houseman. The film was the third highest-grossing horror film of its year, taking $24 million at the box office.

Next, Irvin made the biographical film Champions (1984) starring John Hurt, then Turtle Diary (1985), adapted for the screen by Harold Pinter and starring Ben Kingsley, Glenda Jackson and Michael Gambon. Then Raw Deal (1986) starred Arnold Schwarzenegger. The well-received Hamburger Hill followed in 1987 starring Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermott, Michael Boatman, Steven Weber and Courtney B. Vance – a film about one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War. Paramount picked the film up for release stateside.

Irvin then made the crime thriller Next of Kin (1989) starring Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson. Eminent Domain (1991) starred Donald Sutherland and Anne Archer. Next, Robin Hood (1991) starred Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, and Widows Peak (1993) with Mia Farrow, Joan Plowright, Natasha Richardson, Jim Broadbent and Adrian Dunbar. Then, A Month By the Lake (1994) starring Vanessa Redgrave, Edward Fox and Thurman. In 1997, Irvin directed City of Industry, a neo-noir crime thriller starring Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff and Timothy Hutton.

When Trumpets Fade (1998), with Ron Eldard, was commissioned by HBO as a forerunner to the same network’s Band of Brothers.

It was at this time that Irvin, a longtime client of Independent Talent Group, made the move to making indie pictures in Europe. These include Shiner (2000) starring Michael Caine, and The Boys and Girl from County Clare (2003) starring Andrea Corr and Colm Meaney. They were followed by The Moon and the Stars (2006) starring Alfred Molina, Catherine McCormack and Jonathan Pryce, and The Garden of Eden (2008) with Jack Huston, Mena Suvari, Richard E Grant, Carmen Maura and Matthew Modine.

Irvin divided the last 20 years of his life between London and the Sussex countryside where he co-founded with his producer Claire Evans their own production company DearHeart. They began research in 2008 for Mandela’s’ Gun; the film was six years in the making and shot in seven countries. In 2016, producer Vaughn Mullady joined them. In early 2017 a festival cut of Mandela’s Gun was requested by the speaker of the UK Houses of Parliament to be screened in honor of President Nelson Mandela in the Speakers State Rooms where Mandela had been in residence.

At the time of his death, Irvin was working with new material and completing a final edit of Mandela’s Gun. He was also directing a feature documentary Water From an Ancient Well about his friend, the late and great South African musician Abdullah Ibrahim.

In 1970, Irvin married Sophie (neé Litchfield), who died of cancer in 1991. Together they had three children Emilie, Luke and Amy Irvin (who survive him); and two grandchildren, Finn and Isla Irvin. All surrounded him in his final weeks and months of his life, rewatching movies with him while Irvin still found time to dictate work to his producers.

Director

Water from an Ancient Well

Director

Filming

 

Tumisho Masha in Mandela's Gun (2016)

Mandela's Gun

6.0

Director

2016

 

Mena Suvari, Caterina Murino, and Jack Huston in The Garden of Eden (2008)

The Garden of Eden

5.3

directed by

2008

 

The Moon and the Stars (2007)

The Moon and the Stars

6.0

Director

2007

 

The Fine Art of Love: Mine Ha-Ha (2005)

The Fine Art of Love: Mine Ha-Ha

5.4

Director

2005

 

Armand Assante in Dot.Kill (2005)

Dot.Kill

4.8

Director

2005

 

The Boys & Girl from County Clare (2003)

The Boys & Girl from County Clare

6.5

Director

2003

 

Jeremy Irons, Jason Priestley, and Forest Whitaker in The Fourth Angel (2001)

The Fourth Angel

5.3

Director

2001

 

Michael Caine in Shiner (2000)

Shiner

5.9

Director

2000

 

Jon Voight and Mary Steenburgen in Noah's Ark (1999)

Noah's Ark

3.7

TV Mini Series

Director

1999

2 episodes

 

When Trumpets Fade (1998)

When Trumpets Fade

7.0

TV Movie

Director

1998

 

City of Industry (1997)

City of Industry

6.1

Director

1997

 

Peter Horton, Victor Aaron, and Michael Greyeyes in Crazy Horse (1996)

Crazy Horse

6.3

TV Movie

Director

1996

 

Uma Thurman and Vanessa Redgrave in A Month by the Lake (1995)

A Month by the Lake

6.1

Director

1995

 

Eric Roberts, Jeff Fahey, and Pamela Gidley in Freefall (1994)

Freefall

4.7

Director

1994

 

Mia Farrow, Natasha Richardson, and Joan Plowright in Widows' Peak (1994)

Widows' Peak

6.7

Director

1994

 

Uma Thurman, Patrick Bergin, Jürgen Prochnow, Edward Fox, and Jeroen Krabbé in Robin Hood (1991)

Robin Hood

5.7

Director

1991

 

Anne Archer and Donald Sutherland in Eminent Domain (1990)

Eminent Domain

5.9

Director

1990

 

Liam Neeson, Patrick Swayze, Valentino Cimo, Paul Herman, Andreas Katsulas, Ted Levine, and Michael J. Pollard in Next of Kin (1989)

Next of Kin

5.9

Director

1989

 

Hamburger Hill (1987)

Hamburger Hill

6.7

Director

1987

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Raw Deal (1986)

Raw Deal

5.6

Director

1986

 

Turtle Diary (1985)

Turtle Diary

6.9

Director

1985

 

Champions (1984)

Champions

6.5

Director

1984

 

Jean Simmons and Ian Carmichael in All for Love (1982)

All for Love

6.6

TV Series

directed by

1983

1 episode

 

Ghost Story (1981)

Ghost Story

6.3

Director

1981

 

Christopher Walken in The Dogs of War (1980)

The Dogs of War

6.3

Director

1980

 

Alec Guinness, Ian Richardson, Bernard Hepton, and Terence Rigby in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

8.4

TV Mini Series

Director

1979

7 episodes

 

Power Struggle

TV Movie

directed by

1978

 

Ian Hendry, Carole Mowlam, and Maureen Pryor in The Sunday Drama (1977)

The Sunday Drama

5.0

TV Series

Director

1978

2 episodes

 

Keith Alexander, Ed Bishop, and Bob Sherman in Life at Stake (1978)

Life at Stake

TV Series

Director

1978

1 episode

 

Reginald Barratt, Richard Beckinsale, Freddie Fletcher, Bernard Hepton, Arthur Lowe, Brian Miller, Ron Moody, Jack Rosenthal, Liz Smith, and Paula Wilcox in ITV Playhouse (1967)

ITV Playhouse

7.2

TV Series

Director

1977

1 episode

 

Patrick Allen and Timothy West in Hard Times (1977)

Hard Times

7.5

TV Mini Series

Director

1977

1 episode

 

Tony Britton in The Nearly Man (1974)

The Nearly Man

7.2

TV Series

Director

1974–1975

6 episodes

 

Possessions (1974)

Possessions

6.5

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

Haunted (1974)

Haunted

6.0

TV Movie

Director (segment "The Ferryman")

1974

 

Anthony Hopkins in Childhood (1974)

Childhood

4.6

TV Series

Director

1974

1 episode

 

Medieval England: The Peasants Revolt (1969)

Medieval England: The Peasants Revolt

6.2

Short

Director

1969

 

Tomorrow Night in London (1969)

Tomorrow Night in London

6.5

Short

Director

1969

 

One Pair of Eyes (1967)

One Pair of Eyes

6.6

TV Series

Director

1968

1 episode

 

Bedtime (1967)

Bedtime

Short

Director

1967

 

Mafia No!

Short

Director

1967

 

Carousella (1966)

Carousella

6.1

Short

Director

1966

 

Go Go Go Said the Bird

TV Movie

Director

1966

 

Jack Bond in Five More (1966)

Five More

TV Series

Director

1966

1 episode

 

East of Howerd

TV Movie

Director

1966

 

Gala Day

6.1

Short

Director

1963

 

Inheritance

Short

Director

1963

 

Writer

Medieval England: The Peasants Revolt (1969)

Medieval England: The Peasants Revolt

6.2

Short

Writer

1969

 

Jack Bond in Five More (1966)

Five More

TV Series

writer

1966

1 episode

 

Gala Day

6.1

Short

Writer (uncredited)

1963

 

Producer

The Road to Toad

executive producer

Pre-production

 

Actor

Ermione (2019)

Ermione

TV Movie

Pirro

2019

 

Self

Alec Guinness: A Class Act (2024)

Alec Guinness: A Class Act

7.4

TV Movie

Self

2024

 

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020)

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind

7.1

TV Movie

Self - Filmmaker

2020

 

Jeremy Corbyn in The Big Meeting (2019)

The Big Meeting

7.8

Self

2019

 

John le Carré in An Evening with George Smiley (2017)

An Evening with George Smiley

7.2

Self

2017

 

The Writer with No Hands: Final Cut (2017)

The Writer with No Hands: Final Cut

6.2

Self

2017

 

The Forgotten 1970s Drama of Granada TV

Video

Self

2015

 

The Writer with No Hands (2014)

The Writer with No Hands

7.0

Self

2014

 

Hamburger Hill: The Appearance of Reality

Video

Self

2008

 

Medics in Vietnam

Video

Self

2008

 

Film '72 (1971)

Film '72

7.0

TV Series

Self

1980–2008

2 episodes

 

Special interview footage with John le Carré and John Irvin

Video

Self

2004

 

Arena (1975)

Arena

7.7

TV Series

Self

2003

1 episode

 

The Making of 'Shiner' (2001)

The Making of 'Shiner'

TV Special

Self - Director

2001

 

American Cinema (1995)

American Cinema

7.7

TV Series

Self

1995

1 episode

 

De película (1982)

De película

8.2

TV Series

Self - Interviewee

1987

1 episode

 

Terry Wogan in Wogan (1982)

Wogan

6.2

TV Series

Self

1987

1 episode

 

Archive Footage

Witnessed: Fade to Black (2021)

Witnessed: Fade to Black

Podcast Series

(archive sound)

2023

1 episode

 

Minty Comedic Arts (2015)

Minty Comedic Arts

8.6

TV Series

Self (archive footage)

2022

1 episode