Anthony “Tony” Simmons was born on December 16, 1922, and died on January 22, 2016.
He was a British writer and film producer.
Anthony was associated with, though separate from, the Free Cinema movement; he said he was greatly influenced by Humphrey Jennings and by Michelangelo Antonioni’s movie Il Grido.
Apparently Simmons claimed: “I wasn’t aiming to be a film director.
And: I was a lawyer aiming to be a writer. But I felt that if I wrote films it was more immediate. It’s quicker.
Continue–You haven’t got to spell out the words, you just make the image and tell the story.”
Anthony Simmons documentary Sunday by the Sea (1951) won the Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival.
Next “Four in the Morning” (1965), his second feature film as director, did not gain a circuit release despite winning awards at several international film festivals, and a BAFTA award for Judi Dench as Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.
For a few years Anthony toiled in radio and making TV commercials until his next feature The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973) starring Peter Sellers.
Simmons 1977 feature movie Black Joy was entered into the 1977 Cannes Film Festival.
Anthony’s TV drama On Giant’s Shoulders (1979) about Terry Wiles won an Emmy Award.
Anthony Simmons also directed episodes for various UK TV series, including The Professionals, Supergran, Inspector Morse, Van Der Valk, A Touch of Frost and C.A.T.S. Eyes.
Anthony Simmons passed away at died at 93 yrs old.