David Leland

David Leland (20 April 1941 – 24 December 2023) was a British film director, screenwriter and actor who came to international fame with his directorial debut Wish You Were Here in 1987.

Life and career Leland initially trained as an actor at Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1963, he was part of the breakaway group of Central staff and students who formed Drama Centre London along with fellow students including actor and later theatre director Jack Shepherd and Jon Lord, later keyboard player and co-founder of rock band Deep Purple and Whitesnake. Made in Britain won the Prix Italia (an international television award) in 1984. With Jordan, he was nominated for BAFTA, Golden Globe and Writers Guild of America awards.

Leland then wrote Personal Services in 1986. It was directed by Terry Jones and concerned Cynthia Payne, a real-life British madam who ran a private brothel. Julie Walters took the leading role. While Personal Services dealt with the adult life of Cynthia Payne, Leland's next film, Wish You Were Here, concerned her teenage years. This film was a success at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival and it made the young British actress Emily Lloyd a star. It was awarded the FIPRESCI-Award at Cannes and the BAFTA for best screenplay.

In 1991, Leland directed the successful stage musical A Tribute to the Blues Brothers, which played on the West End and then toured for ten years in the UK and Australia.

Leland's next two films, Checking Out (with Jeff Daniels) and The Big Man (with Liam Neeson), were successful in the private market. In 1997, Leland co-wrote and directed The Land Girls starring Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel and, in 2000, wrote and directed Episode 6 of the HBO Miniseries Band of Brothers.

Leland was an early writer on the very first season of Peaky Blinders, helping to conceive the show.

In 2012, Leland joined the Showtime series The Borgias as co-showrunner and executive producer (alongside Neil Jordan, whom he had worked with on Mona Lisa), writing the last five episodes of its second season and directing its last two episodes. He described his stint as co-showrunner and executive producer as a "hands-on" experience and having to commit to extensive research on the Renaissance. The documentary also won a Grammy Award. He also directed the Dino De Laurentiis produced Virgin Territory, released in 2007.

Leland died on 24 December 2023, at the age of 82.

Filmography Actor Big Breadwinner Hog (television series) (1969) as Grange 1917 (1970) as Felix Scars of Dracula (1970) as 1st Policeman One Brief Summer (1970) as Peter The Last of the Mohicans (television series) (1971) as David the psalmodist The Pied Piper (1972) as Officer Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) as Humphrey Time Bandits (1981) as Puppeteer The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) (television series; episode #4) as Majikthise The Missionary (1982) as Long Haired Man at Gin Palace The Jewel in the Crown (1984) (television series; season 1, episode #10: An Evening at the Maharanee's) as Captain Purvis Personal Services (1987) as Mr. Pilkington When Saturday Comes (1996) as Priest

Screenwriter Made in Britain (Director: Alan Clarke) R.H.I.N.O.; Really Here in Name Only (Director: Jane Howell) Birth of a Nation (Director: Mike Newell) Flying Into the Wind (Director: Edward Bennett) Ligmalion - a Musical for The 80s (Director: Nigel Finch) Mona Lisa (Director: Neil Jordan) Personal Services (Director: Terry Jones) The White River Kid (Director: Arne Glimcher) The Borgias (TV series, also executive producer and episode director; creator: Neil Jordan)

Director Films Wish You Were Here (also writer; 1987) Checking Out (1988) The Big Man (1990) The Land Girls (also co-writer; 1998) Concert for George (2003) (Documentary) Virgin Territory a.k.a. Mediaeval Pie (also writer; 2007)

Television Band of Brothers (part No. 6 "Bastogne") (2001) The Borgias (episode 9; also writer and executive producer of the series; 2012)

Awards and nominations 2005 Grammy Award for Best Long Form Video (Concert for George) 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special (Band of Brothers) 2002 Christopher Award for best miniseries (Band of Brothers) 1988 BAFTA Award for best screenplay (Wish You Were Here) 1987 FIPRESCI Award International Cannes Film Festival (Wish You Were Here) 1987 Peter Sellers Award for Comedy (Evening Standard British Film Awards) (Wish You Were Here and Personal Services) 1986 Writers Guild of America Nomination (Mona Lisa) 1986 Golden Globe Nomination (Mona Lisa)