Gerald Blake (director)
Gerald Blake | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gerald Maurice Shorts 3 December 1928 |
| Died | 5 April 1991 (aged 62) Camden, London, England |
| Occupation | Television director |
Gerald Blake (3 December 1928 – 5 April 1991) was a British television director who worked in drama from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Early life
Blake's formative years were spent in the front seats of cinemas. An avid movie fan, he would recreate films by painstakingly drawing frame by frame on rolls of bus tickets, which would be fed through a slit in a cocoa tin. Come the Second World War, the boy found himself bombed out three times and evacuated from the East End of London to Wales.[1]
Career
Beginning his career as an actor, Blake appeared in repertory, appearing in productions at Burnham and Farnham before becoming stage director at the New Shakespeare Theatre, Liverpool. In October 1958, he became associate producer at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln. It was here during the presentation of a revue that BBC producer Norman Rutherford was visiting. Impressed by the production, he offered Blake a six-month drama producer's course with the corporation. Starting on 8 May 1962,[2] his training consisted of directing episodes of Dr. Finlay's Casebook[3] and afterwards went on to become a television director.
His numerous credits include The Gentle Touch, The Omega Factor (the episode "After-Image"), Blake's 7 (the episodes "The Harvest of Kairos" (1980) and "Death-Watch" (1980) from the third series), Survivors (three episodes from the first series), The Onedin Line, Out of the Unknown, Doctor Who (the stories The Abominable Snowmen (1967) and The Invasion of Time (1978)), Super Gran, Compact, Z-Cars, Mr. Palfrey of Westminster, and Coronation Street.
Personal life
In 1956, Blake married the actress Sally Wyndham Davies. Whilst together in Lincoln, they had a son, Adam James in 1960.[4] By 1978, their marriage was in trouble and agreed on a trial separation. Within three weeks though, Blake had moved as a lodger into the home of friend Jill Gascoine's (having known each other since working together on an episode of Softly, Softly: Task Force[5]) place as a lodger. Subsequently, he left his wife and children for Gascoine[6] but the divorce did not come through until May 1983. Not long afterwards, Blake and Gascoine parted amicably after she had fallen for a younger man, actor Alfred Molina.[7]
References
- ^ "Gerald Blake". The Stage. 25 April 1991. p. 41. Retrieved 6 March 2026. (Obituary)
- ^ "Theatre Man Is To Take BBC Course". Lincolnshire Echo. 16 April 1962. p. 1. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Director For "Compact"". Lincolnshire Echo. 1 February 1963. p. 4. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Has Her Own "Chick" Now". Lincolnshire Echo. 2 August 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Mrs Onedin discovers a new world". Leicester Mercury. 3 April 1980. p. 38. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Onedin wife sails into a love storm". Sunday People. 2 April 1978. p. 2. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- ^ "Not-so gentle touch". Sunday People. 5 June 1983. p. 15. Retrieved 6 March 2026.
- Jerry Roberts (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-8108-6138-1.
External links
- Gerald Blake at IMDb