Kevin Billington

Kevin Billington (12 June 1934 – 13 December 2021) was a British film director, who worked in the theatre, film and television from the 1960s.

Kevin Billington
Billington and his wife Rachel in 1968
Born	(1934-06-12)12 June 1934
Died	13 December 2021(2021-12-13) (aged 87)
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge
Occupation	Film/theatre director
Spouse	Lady Rachel Billington (née Pakenham) ​ ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	4

Biography

The son of a factory worker,^[1] and educated at Bryanston School and Queens' College, Cambridge,^[2] early in his career he worked for the BBC as a radio producer in Leeds (1959–60) and then for television in Manchester (1960–61) before working on the early evening Tonight and on documentaries for the BBC and ATV until 1967.^[3] Billington's films include The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970), which stars Peter Cook, while his theatre work includes several productions of plays by Harold Pinter, who was married to his wife's sister, Lady Antonia Fraser.^[4]

Billington's television work includes Henry VIII (1979) for the BBC Television Shakespeare project, one of the best received productions in the series.^[5] He also directed The Good Soldier (Granada 1981), based on the novel by Ford Madox Ford, and A Time to Dance (BBC 1992), adapted by Melvyn Bragg from his own work of fiction.^[6]

He was married to Lady Rachel Billington; having met while they were both working in New York, they married the following year^[1] in 1967.^[7] The couple had four children and five grandchildren.

Billington died from cancer on 13 December 2021, at the age of 87.^[4][8]

Filmography as director

• Whicker; Down Mexico Way (TV documentary, 1963)
• Mary McCarthy's Paris (TV documentary, 1964)
• A Few Castles in Spain (TV documentary, 1966)
• Interlude (1968)
• The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970)
• The Light at the Edge of the World (1971)
• And No One Could Save Her (TV, 1973)
• Voices (1973)
• Henry VIII (TV, 1979)
• The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs (TV, 1981)
• The Good Soldier (TV, 1981)
• Outside Edge (TV, 1982)
• Reflections (1984)
• The Deliberate Death of a Polish Priest (TV, 1986)
• Heartland (TV, 1989)^[9]
• A Time to Dance (TV series, 1992)

References

1. Fred Hauptfuhrer "The Literary Longfords Include Lord Porn, Mum and Antonia—Now Make Way for Sister Rachel" People, 13:12, 24 March 1980
2. "Eminent alumni | Queens' College".
3. "Kevin Billington, Esq Authorised Biography", Debrett's
4. "Kevin Billington, director who made his mark with radical documentaries in the 1960s and later with polished BBC adaptations and theatre – obituary". The Telegraph. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
5. Michael Brooke "Henry VIII On Screen", BFI screenonline
6. Jerry Roberts Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2009, p.43
7. Mario Conte "God & I: Rachel Billington", Messenger of St Anthony, September 2009
8. "Kevin Billington obituary". The Times. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
9. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097491/ ^{[user-generated source]}

External links

• Kevin Billington at IMDb
• Entry in The International Who's Who (2004), p. 163