Reisz, Karel (1926-2002)

Czech film director. Known for his naturalistic documentary film style, he became one of the leading figures in post-war Britain's ‘New Wave’ in filmmaking. His first feature film, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), which looked at UK working-class life, was a critical and commercial success. His other films include the cult favourite Morgan! A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966), the biographical drama Isadora (1968), and his American films, which include The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Sweet Dreams (1986), and Everybody Wins (1990).

Reisz lived in the UK from 1938, and initially became a film critic. In the mid-1970s he moved to Hollywood. Following the critical and commercial indifference towards Everybody Wins, he mainly confined himself to working in the theatre in London, Dublin, and Paris, directing acclaimed productions of Henrik Ibsen, Terence Rattigan, and Harold Pinter, among others. His 1993 production of Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea won the Critics' Circle Award and an Olivier nomination.