Alvin Rakoff, the Canadian director who made films including Say Hello To Yesterday and who helped launch the careers of Sean Connery and Alan Rickman, has died at the age of 97.
Rakoff died on October 12, “peacefully…surrounded by his loving family in the same, beautiful old house in Chiswick he had bought back in 1971”, according to Nick Pourgourides, a long-time representative of the filmmaker.
Rakoff directed 11 feature films across a near 70-year career, including 1969 crime film Crossplot starring Roger Moore and Claudie Lange; 1970 drama Hoffman led by Peter Sellers; and 1971 romantic comedy Say Hello To Yesterday starring Jean Simmons.
He worked with Hollywood stalwarts Henry Fonda, Ava Gardner and Shelley Winters on 1979’s City on Fire; and with Elliot Gould on Rakoff’s last feature film, 1981 comedy Dirty Tricks.
Also an established TV and theatre director, Rakoff built a reputation for working with young talents who would go on to great acclaim. He gave Sean Connery his first leading role in 1957 telepay Requiem For A Heavyweight, with a young Michael Caine also an extra; and cast a then-unknown Alan Rickman as Tybalt in a 1978 TV production of Romeo & Juliet for the BBC.
Rakoff also advised Harry Saltzman and Albert R. ‘Cubby’ Broccoli on the casting of James Bond, having worked with all three actors whom they were considering: Connery, Moore – who went on to play Bond from 1973 to 1985 – and Patrick McGoohan.
Having sold his car to buy a boat ticket from Canada to the UK in 1952, Rakoff spent most of his life in the latter country. He was the youngest producer-director in the BBC drama department at the age of 26; and later in his career became president of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, the now-defunct organisation representing directors in the country.
Rakoff is survived by his wife of 30 years Sally Hughes; two children from his first marriage to the late Jacqueline Hill - charity executive Sasha Rakoff and film producer John Rakoff; his sister Lorraine; and five grandchildren.
Leading lights from the UK creative industry have paid tribute to Rakoff. Stephen Fry called him “a giant of film, theatre and TV. His Midas touch with spotting and fostering talent introduced the world to some of the last century’s greatest stars,”; while Judi Dench described Rakoff as “a very endearing person.”
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