Alvin Rakoff

Alvin Rakoff (born Abraham Rakoff; 6 February 1927 – 12 October 2024) was a Canadian director of theatre, film, and television.

Early life and education The son of Jewish emigrants from the Russian Empire, Rakoff was born in Toronto born on 6 February 1927. He was the third of seven children of Pearl (nee Isenberg) and Samuel Rakoff, who had a shop in Kensington Market. When Rakoff was 16, after facing antisemitism, he changed his first name to Alvin, inspired by Alvin York and the film Sergeant York.

After graduation from the University of Toronto, he became a journalist and began writing for the CBC's nascent television service, where Sydney Newman was head of the drama department. In 1952, he moved to London, England to work at the BBC.

Career

A BBC adaptation in 1953 of the Irwin Shaw novel The Troubled Air was his first major writing assignment for television. In 1954, his production of Waiting For Gillian won the Daily Mails National TV Award with actors Patrick Barr and Anne Crawford also honoured. He later recreated this production in French for transmission throughout France.

In 1962, the BBC asked Rakoff to produce/direct its entry for the European-wide 'The Largest Theatre In The World' written especially for the occasion by Terence Rattigan and called Heart to Heart, with Kenneth More and Ralph Richardson. In 1964, when the new channel BBC 2 was launched Rakoff was selected to direct plays filling the first three Sunday-night drama slots (The Seekers). He won his first Emmy Award in 1967 for Call Me Daddy, which had featured Donald Pleasence, and 15 years later won it again for A Voyage Round My Father (Laurence Olivier, Alan Bates, and Jane Asher took the leads) which he produced and directed.

Rakoff's writing included Too Marvellous For Words, the story of lyricist Johnny Mercer presented at The Mill Theatre, Sonning, and King's Head Theatre, London. He had written three novels. His first, & Gillian, a romantic novel, was translated into 10 languages. His second, Baldwin Street, based on his early days in his parents' shop in Toronto, was published in 2008. The Seven Einsteins, a third novel, is a genetic thriller published in 2014. An adaptation of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep was produced in 2012.

Rakoff's theatre work ranged from Hamlet at Bristol Old Vic to a Charity Cruise performance at the Royal Albert Hall before Her Majesty the Queen, and continued with his association with The Mill Theatre, Sonning, directing productions of Separate Tables with Anthony Valentine and his own adaptation of Chandler's The Big Sleep.

In 2010, Rakoff directed A Sentimental Journey, the story of Doris Day, at Wilton's Music Hall, London, and subsequently (2012) El Portal Theatre, Hollywood.

Rakoff was also a president of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.

He worked with actors including Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers, Sean Connery, Judi Dench, Rex Harrison, Rod Steiger, Henry Fonda and Ava Gardner.

Rakoff awarded Sean Connery his first leading role, and gave Alan Rickman his first job when he was a drama student. Other actors he worked with early in their careers include Michael Crawford, Jeremy Irons, and Michael Caine.

Death Rakoff died at his home in Chiswick, London on 12 October 2024, aged 97. Filmography Feature films (director) Year Film 1958 Passport to Shame 1959 The Treasure of San Teresa 1961 World in My Pocket 1964 The Comedy Man 1969 Crossplot 1970 Hoffman 1971 Say Hello to Yesterday 1979 City on Fire 1979 King Solomon's Treasure 1980 Death Ship 1981 Dirty Tricks

Television (director) Year Title 1953 Holiday Girl 1953 Starlight 1953 A Place of Execution 1953 Strictly Personal 1953 The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill 1954 Willie the Squouse 1954 The Lover 1954 Waiting for Gillian 1955 Waiting for Gillian (French TV version form Paris, re-titled Un Chemin Dans La Nuit) 1954 The Face of Love 1954 Return to the River 1954 The Good Partners 1954 Tyrant's Tower 1954 Teckman Biography by Francis Durbridge 1955 Three Empty Rooms by Reginald Rose 1955 The New Executive 1955 The Hole in the Wall 1955 Thunder in the Realm (Canada) 1955 The Legend of Pepito 1956 The Reclining Figure 1956 For the Defence 1956 The Condemned 1956 Epitaph 1956 The Seat of the Scornful 1956 No Man's Land 1957 Dial 999 (series, 4 episodes) 1957 The Staring Match 1957 Sunday Night Theatre: Requiem for a Heavyweight 1957 Our Town 1958 The Caine Mutiny Court Martial 1958 Breakdown 1958 Man in the Corner 1959 Velvet Alley 1959 The Ransom of Red Chief (USA) 1959 The Dark Side of the Earth 1960 The Leather Jungle 1960 A Town Has Turned to Dust 1960 Come In Razor Red 1961 Joker's Justice 1961 The Room by Harold Pinter 1961 A Reason for Staying 1962 Heart to Heart by Terence Rattigan ("The Largest Theatre in the World", European Union television drama entry) 1962 A Quiet Game of Cards 1962 Call Me Back 1963 The Remarkable Incident at Carsons Corners 1964 The Seekers 1964 The Blackpool Trilogy 1965 Court Martial (series) 1966 You'll Know Me by the Stars in My Eyes 1966 The Move After Checkmate 1966 The Sweet War Man 1967 The Girl 1967 The Man Who Understood Women 1967 Call Me Daddy (Emmy Award) 1968 Murder 1971 A Kiss Is Just a Kiss 1971 Summer and Smoke 1972 Blur & Blank via Cleckheaton 1972 A Man About a Dog 1972 The Adventures of Don Quixote 1973 Shadow of a Gunman 1973 Harlequinade 1974 Cheap in August 1974 Jan & Tony, "Rooms" 1974 How to Impeach A President (USA) 1974 A Brisk Dip Sagaciously Considered 1974 Shall We Have a King? (USA) 1975 Husband to Mrs Fitzherbert 1975 The Nicest Man in the World 1975 The October Crisis (Canada) 1975 Lulu Street (Canada) 1975 The Liberty Tree 1976 The Killers 1976 In Praise of Love 1976 Mrs Amsworth 1976 The Promise 1976 The Dame Of Sark 1977 The Kitchen 1978 Romeo & Juliet 1980 The Quiet Days of Mrs Stafford 1981 The Breadwinner 1982 Disraeli 1982 A Voyage Round My Father 1983 Firework For Elspeth 1983 Mr Halpern & Mr Johnson 1983 A Talent for Murder 1984 The First Olympics, Athens 1896 1985 Paradise Postponed 1989 Haunting Harmony 1990 Gas & Candles 1991/1992 Sam Saturday 1992 The Best Of Friends 1997 A Dance to the Music of Time

Writing (television, films, books) Year Title Role 1953 The Troubled Air adaptor (TV) 1953 A Flight of Fancy writer (TV) 1953 Our Town adaptor (TV) 1954 Waiting for Gillian co-adaptor (TV) 1958 The Caine Mutiny Court Martial adaptor (TV) 1970 Say Hello To Yesterday writer (film) 1973 A Man About Dog adaptor (TV) 1973 Shadow Of A Gunman adaptor (TV) 1978 City On Fire co-writer (film) 1991/92 Sam Saturday creator (TV series) 1996 & Gillian (novel, Little Brown) 2001/02 Too Marvelous For Words writer (musical) 2008 Baldwin Street (novel, Bunim & Bannigan, New York) 2012 The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (stage adaptation) 2014 The Seven Einsteins(novel, Author House)

Stage credits