Michael Blakemore

Michael Blakemore
Born	Michael Howell Blakemore (1928-06-18)18 June 1928 Sydney
Died	10 December 2023(2023-12-10)(aged 95)
Years active	1951–2023
Awards	Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play 1984Noises Off 2000Copenhagen Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Musical 2000Kiss Me, Kate Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play 2000Copenhagen Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical 2000Kiss Me, Kate

Michael Howell BlakemoreAOOBE(18 June 1928 – 10 December 2023) was an Australian actor, writer and theatre director who also made a handful of films. A former Associate Director of theNational Theatre,in 2000 he became the only individual to winTony Awardsfor Best Director of a Play and Musical in the same year forCopenhagenandKiss Me, Kate.

Biography

Early life and career

Michael Howell Blakemore was born in Sydney, the son of Conrad Howell Blakemore, an eye surgeon, and his wife, Una Mary Litchfield. He married English actress Shirley Bush. Blakemore was educated atThe King's School, Sydney,and went on to study medicine at theUniversity of Sydneybut failed his examinations.

Blakemore's first job in the theatre was as a press agent forRobert Morleyduring the Australian tour ofEdward, My Son,who advised him to try drama school. In 1950 he came to London, enrolled at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Artand trained as an actor until 1952. He made his first professional stage appearance in 1952 at the Theatre Royal,Huddersfield,as the doctor inThe Barretts of Wimpole Street.

Blakemore then worked for several years in repertory includingBirmingham Repertory Company,Bristol and Coventry, and made his first London appearance at the Princes Theatre in March 1958 as Jack Poyntz in the musical playSchool.He also played small parts at Stratford in theShakespeare Memorial Theatre's 1959 season. It was at the latter that he met and worked withLaurence OlivierandPeter Hall.

Turns to directing

Blakemore appeared in two seasons at theOpen Air Theatre,Regent's Park, playing Sir Toby Belch inTwelfth Nightand Holofernes inLove's Labour's Lostin 1962; Dogberry inMuch Ado About Nothingand Theseus inA Midsummer Night's Dreamin 1963. At theComedy Theatrein December 1963 he played Badger inToad of Toad Hall,then toured Australia as Palmer Anderson inA Severed Head.He joined theGlasgow Citizens1966–67, where his parts included George inWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?and Maitland inInadmissible Evidence.During this period and after acting for some 15 years, Blakemore decided that his true calling was in directing. For theCitizens' Theatrein Glasgow he directedThe Investigation,Little Malcolm,Stephen DandNightmare Abbeyin 1966; andThe Strange Case of Martin Richter,The Visions of Simone Machard,A Choice of WarsandRosmersholmin 1967. He became its Co-Artistic Director in 1968 and had great success withPeter Nichols'sA Day in the Death of Joe Eggin 1967, accompanying the play on its moves to London that year and to Broadway in 1968, earning his first Tony nomination for directing.

National Theatre

In 1969 Blakemore joined theNational Theatreat theOld Victo directThe National Healthby Peter Nichols. He later directedLaurence OlivierinEugene O'Neill'sLong Day's Journey into Night(1971). In 1970, as the National Theatre began a slow, and much delayed, transition from theOld Vicpremises to the multi-stageSouth Banksite, Blakemore was invited by Laurence Olivier to become one of two Associate Directors.Since Olivier had already suffered from medical crises that were a feature of the last quarter of his life, the question of eventual succession as Artistic Director was obviously in the background. Blakemore felt he was a probable candidate, and indeed, according to Olivier's biographerPhilip Ziegler,he was highly favoured.

But in 1973 the Board of the National Theatre appointedPeter Hallwithout consulting Olivier. Blakemore wrote:

"It was a little like a putsch, and people were separated from one another by private concerns: what did the future hold and would they still keep their jobs?"

Blakemore and Hall had been rivals during the 1959 season at theRoyal Shakespeare Companywhen Hall had directed Blakemore as an actor and both had had romantic ideas aboutVanessa Redgrave.Blakemore became one of ten associate directors forming what was called a planning committee.Blakemore and Hall's rivalry was dramatised when Blakemore presented a formal manifesto to the committee recommending reform.The committee refused to discuss the manifesto and Blakemore was eventually forced to resign when his salary was stopped without warning or explanation.His other productions includedTygerbyAdrian Mitchell,co-directed withJohn Dexter(1971),The Front PagebyBen HechtandCharles MacArthur(1972),Macbeth(1972),The Cherry Orchard(translated byRonald Hingley,1973),Grand Manoeuvres(1974),EngagedbyW. S. Gilbert(1975), andPlunderbyBen Travers(1976).

Later career

In 1977 he joined theRoyal Shakespeare Companyto direct Peter Nichols'Privates on Parade.He became resident director of theLyric Theatre, Hammersmithin 1980, where he directedMichael Frayn'sMake and Break,opening on 12 March, starringLeonard RossiterandPrunella Scales,and which in a revised version transferred on 24 April to the Theatre Royal Haymarket. This was followed in October 1980 by Ibsen'sThe Wild Duckin a new translation by Ronald Hingley; and in February 1982 by the world premiere of Frayn'sNoises Offbefore its transfer to theSavoy Theatre.

His association with playwrightMichael Frayn,which began at the Lyric Hammersmith withMake and Break(1980) andNoises Off(1982), continued with Frayn'sBenefactors(Vaudeville, 1984), Frayn's translation ofUncle Vanya(Vaudeville, 1988), and his original plays,Here(Donmar Warehouse, 1993) andNow You Know(Hampstead, 1995). In 1980, Blakemore was invited to direct a series of four plays at the newly reconstructedLyric Theatre (Hammersmith)by Artistic Director Bill Thomley. The Board made it known that they were looking for a new Artistic Director, and Blakemore decided to put his name forward. However, the job went to Peter James.

After an absence of many years, Blakemore returned to the National to direct Frayn's playCopenhagenin May 1998, before its transfer to theDuchess Theatrein February 1999. This was followed byAlarms and Excursions(Gielgud, September 1998),Democracy(National, Cottesloe, September 2003; Wyndham's, April 2004)[1],andAfterlife(National, Lyttelton, June 2008)[2].

In addition to his work in the subsidised theatre, Blakemore has directed many productions in the West End and on Broadway, including Noël Coward'sDesign for LivingwithVanessa Redgrave(1973),David Hare's first play,Knuckle(1974),Peter Shaffer'sLettice and LovagewithMaggie SmithandMargaret Tyzack(1987), the musicalCity of AngelsbyLarry Gelbart,Cy ColemanandDavid Zippel(1989) andArthur Miller'sThe Ride Down Mt. Morgan(1991).

In 1995 he directed the off-Broadway production ofDeath Defying Acts,composed of three one-act plays (Central Park WestbyWoody Allen,The InterviewbyDavid MametandHotlinebyElaine May). Also Coleman'sThe Life(1997), the revival ofKiss Me, Kate(1999),Embersby Christopher Hampton, withJeremy Ironsat theDuke of York's Theatrein London (March 2006)[3]and, on Broadway,DeucebyTerrence McNally(April 2007) starringAngela LansburyandMarian Seldes[4].Blakemore's production ofIs He Dead?,a comic play byMark Twain,never previously produced, opened on Broadway in November 2007 with a run of 105 performances[5].In 2014 Blakemore directed Angela Lansbury once more, in the critically acclaimed West End production of "Blithe Spirit". His most recent production was the London premiere of 'The Life', staged at the Southwark Playhouse in 2017, starring Sharon D Clarke.

Film

Blakemore directed and scripted the documentary,A Personal History of the Australian Surf: The Confessions of a Straight Poofter(1981), in which he appeared as himself.Tom Milne,reviewing it for theTime Out Film Guide,described the film as, "basically a home movie in which theatre director Blakemore traces his graduation from Bondi Beach to National Theatre."He followed with the film version ofPrivates on Parade(1982) featuringDenis QuilleyandJohn Cleese.In 1994, Blakemore wrote and directedCountry Life.In this adaptation ofChekhov'sUncle Vanya,transferred to an Australian setting, he also played the role of Alexander who has left the London literary scene to return to his roots. The film received five nominations from theAustralian Film Instituteand was entered into the19th Moscow International Film Festival.

Death

Michael Blakemore died on 10 December 2023 at the age of 95 following a short illness.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	The Captain's Table	Steward	Uncredited
	Operation Amsterdam	British Officer	Uncredited
	The Heart of a Man	Man	Uncredited
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Tom Snout	TV film
1965	Catch Us If You Can	Officer
1981	A Personal History of the Australian Surf	Self	Autobiographical documentary
1994	Country Life	Alexander Voysey

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	The Adventures of Sir Lancelot	Cedric	Episode: "The Black Castle"
1958	Armchair Theatre	Bradley	Episode: "The Pillars of Midnight"
	ITV Playhouse	Peter Gilbert	Episode: "The Browning Version"
1959	The Larkins	Shop Manager	Episode: "Gift Horse Power"
	ITV Play of the Week	Makepeace 'Pym' Lovell	Episode: "No Time for Comedy"
1960		Walter Clavering	Episode: "Vitriol"
	Armchair Mystery Theatre	Newscaster	Episode: "Free Fall"
1961	The Skewbald	Mr. Blair	Episode: "Surprise Encounters"
	Our Mister Ambler		Episode: "The Old Master"
	ITV Playhouse	Lewis	Episode: "The Reception"
	ITV Play of the Week	Public Relations Officer	Episode: "Countdown at Woomera"
1963	Suspense	Stephen	Episode: "The Man on the Bicycle"
1964	Redcap	Captain Jameson	Episode: "Misfire"
	Dixon of Dock Green	Matthews	Episode: "Routine"
1984	The Last Bastion	John Curtin	Mini-series

Honours, awards and nominations

Honours

• 2003 – Officer of theOrder of Australia
• 2003 – Officer of theOrder of the British Empire

Awards

• 1967 –Evening Standard Award Best Play–A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
• 1971 – Variety Magazine London Drama Critics Best Director –Forget-Me-Not Lane
• 1972 –Plays and PlayersAward for Best Director –Long Day's Journey into Night
• 1972 – Plays and Players Award for Best Director –The Front Page
• 2000 – Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Play –Copenhagen
• 2000 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play –Copenhagen
• 2000 – Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Musical –Kiss Me, Kate
• 2000 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical –Kiss Me, Kate
• 2003 –Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play–Copenhagen
• 2010 – Inducted into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame.

Nominations

• 1968 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play –A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
• 1984 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play –Noises Off
• 1984 – Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Play –Noises Off
• 1990 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play –Lettice and Lovage
• 1990 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical –City of Angels
• 1990 – Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Musical –City of Angels
• 1997 – Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical –The Life
• 1997 – Drama Desk Award Outstanding Direction of a Musical –The Life
• 2002 –Laurence Olivier AwardBest Director –Kiss Me, Kate
• 2003 –London Evening Standard Sydney Edwards Award–Democracy
• 2005 – Helpmann Award for Best Direction of a Play –Democracy

Bibliography

• Blakemore, Michael (1969).Next Season.New York: Simon and Schuster.OCLC438604.
• Blakemore, Michael (2004).Arguments with England.London: Faber.ISBN0-571-22445-8.
• Blakemore, Michael (2013).Stage Blood.London: Faber & Faber. p. 368.ISBN978-0571241378.
• Herbert, Ian; Baxter, Christine; Finlay, Robert E (1981).Who's Who in the Theatre(17th ed.). Detroit: Gale.ISBN0-8103-0234-9.
• Callow, Simon (1997).The National Theatre and its Work 1963–1997.Nick Hern Books.ISBN1-85459-323-4.
• Ziegler, Philip (2014).Olivier.MacLehose Press. p. 352.ISBN978-1623650421.

External links

• Michael Blakemoreat theInternet Broadway Database
• Michael BlakemoreatIMDb