Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Don Sharp

Director

Born - 19 April 1922, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Died - 18 December 2011

Stocky, sandy-haired director who came to the UK after WW2 and started his career as an actor, beginning by co-starring in Ha'penny Breeze (1949), which he also co-wrote and co-directed, and playing Aussie officers in such films as The Planter's Wife (1952), The Cruel Sea (1952) and Appointment in London (1953). His early films as a director often involved children, or young lovers: The Blue Peter (1954, co-directed), The Stolen Airliner (1955), The Adventures of Hal 5 (1957) and Linda (1960), a touching 'B' feature that won him critical attention. His major reputation, however, lies with his horror films., which began soon after: Kiss of the Vampire (1962), Witchcraft (1964) and Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966) among them. There were spoof adventures - Our Man in Marrakesh (1966) and Rocket to the Moon (1967) - and hard hitting-thrillers - Callan (1974), Hennessy (1975) - before he entertainingly remade two classic adventures: The Thirty Nine Steps and The Four Feathers in 1978. His career dwindled therafter, his final theatrical film returning to the horror genre with What Waits Below (1985) and, last of all, the TV movie Tears in the Rain in 1988. He also directed some spectacular action sequences in films by other directors.