Mackendrick, Alexander (1912–1993)

US-born Scottish film director and teacher. He was responsible for some of Ealing Studios' finest films, including Whisky Galore! (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), and The Ladykillers (1955). He went on to Hollywood to direct Sweet Smell of Success (1957), an acerbic portrayal of a powerful New York gossip columnist.

Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, Mackendrick grew up in Glasgow and, after art training, gravitated to the cinema as a result of wartime information work. He joined Ealing Studios and had several screenplay credits before directing his first feature, Whisky Galore!. After Sweet Smell of Success he directed three more films, of which the most accomplished was A High Wind in Jamaica (1965). Later he taught film at the California Institute of Fine Arts.