Filmmaker Lewis Gilbert, who directed three James Bond adventures, Educating Rita and Alfie, has died at the age of 97.
A former child actor and a WWII veteran, Gilbert's directorial career spanned almost six decades and included the war films Reach for the Sky, Carve Her Name with Pride, Sink the Bismarck! and Operation Daybreak.
British director, producer and screenwriter Lewis Gilbert has passed away at the age of 97. Gilbert directed three Bond films; YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967), THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977) and MOONRAKER (1979). Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. pic.twitter.com/FtfipGrx58
— James Bond (@007) February 27, 2018
He brought the Swinging Sixties to the big screen with the Michael Caine-starring Alfie in 1966 and followed it with his first Bond film, You Only Live Twice, the following year.
He returned to the Bond director's chair in 1977, directing another iconic blockbuster, The Spy Who Loved Me, and its follow-up, 1979's Moonraker.
Gilbert's 1983 adaptation of Willy Russell's play Educating Rita was filmed in Dublin and Kildare and saw stars Michael Caine and Julie Walters nominated for Academy Awards.
He returned to Russell's source material for the much-loved Shirley Valentine in 1989 and reunited with Educating Rita star Walters for his final film, 2002's Before You Go.
We are very sad to hear that BFI Fellow Lewis Gilbert, director of Alfie, Educating Rita and three Bond films, has died aged 97 https://t.co/ujwU7rqix4 pic.twitter.com/FzSGD0i2Eg
— BFI (@BFI) February 27, 2018
Paying tribute, the British Film Institute's (BFI) Creative Director Heather Stewart said: "The BFI salutes the most prolific of British filmmakers, awarded our highest accolade, a BFI Fellowship for his outstanding contribution to British film, everything from three Bond films - including the best, You Only Live Twice - and definitive stories of British bravery in WWII with Carve Her Name with Pride and Reach for the Sky, to three films that will forever be remembered for their working class heroes: Alfie, Rita and Shirley.
"In Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine he gave us funny and real character studies of women we normally never get a chance to see on the big screen."
