About

Highlights

Alvin's career as a writer, director and producer has spanned decades - starting with the early days of live black and white BBC drama, working with leading actors in film and television and winning numerous awards in the process. Highlights of his career include:

1954 - NATIONAL TV AWARD - 'Waiting for Gillian'

(later re-produced in French)

1957 - LAUNCHES CAREER of SEAN CONNERY -

'Requiem For A Heavyweight'

1964 - LAUNCHES BBC 2

- first three plays on BBC2, 'The Seekers'

1967 - EMMY AWARD -

'Call Me Daddy'

1978 - LAUNCHES CAREER of ALAN RICKMAN

- 'Romeo & Juliet'

1983 - SECOND EMMY AWARD & 3 BANFF AWARDS -

'A Voyage Round My Father'

1996 - ROYAL TV SOCIETY AWARD & BAFTA

for SIMON RUSSELL BEALE -

'A Dance to the Music of Time'

1996 - First NOVEL '& GILLIAN'

Translated into 10 languages

2007 - 'Baldwin Street' (novel)

2009 - 'The 7 Einsteins' (novel)

2011 - 'A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY' (Stage Musical)

El Portal Theater, Hollywood

2021 - 'I'm Just the Guy who says Action' (autobiography)

CAST LIST

Actors Alvin has worked with include:

Laurence Olivier
Sean Connery
Michael Caine
Michael Gambon
David Threlfall
Judi Dench
Angela Lansbury
John Geilgud
Kenneth More
Rex Harrison
Roger Moore
Henry Fonda
Ava Gardner
Shelley Winters
Jeremy Irons
Michael Crawford
Jane Asher
Peter Sellers
Richard Harris
Rod Steiger

.. and many, many more.

Sketch by Roger Moore

Complete Chronology

**Feature Films (Director)**
Year	Film	Cast
1958	Passport to Shame	Diana Dors, Herbert Lom
1959	The Treasure of San Teresa	Eddie Constantine
1961	World in My Pocket (de)	Rod Steiger
1964	The Comedy Man	Kenneth More
1968	Crossplot	Roger Moore
1969	Hoffman	Peter Sellers
1970	Say Hello to Yesterday	Jean Simmons, Leonard Whiting
1979	City on Fire	Henry Fonda, Ava Gardner, Shelley Winters
1980	Death Ship	George Kennedy, Richard Cremma
1980	Dirty Tricks	Elliott Gould

**Television (Director)**
Year	Title	Cast
1953	Holiday Girl	Mantovani Orchestra
1953	Starlight	Gordon Heath
1953	Strictly Personal (3 episodes)	Anne Crawford
1953	A Place of Execution (6 part seriel)	Derek Bond, Jack Watling
1953	The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill	Gordon Heath
1954	Willie the Squouse
1954	The Lover	Diana Wynyard
1954	Waiting for Gillian (National Television Award)	Patrick Barr, Anne Crawford
1955	Waiting for Gillian (French TV version from Paris, re-titled Un Chemin Dans La Nuit)
1954	The Face of Love	Peter Cushing, Mary Morris, George Rose
1954	Return to the River
1954	The Good Partners
1954	Tyrant's Tower
1954	Teckman Biography by Francis Durbridge (6 part seriel)
1955	Three Empty Rooms by Reginald Rose	Jacqueline Hill
1955	The New Executive
1955	The Hole in the Wall	Mervyn Johns, Sidney Tafler
1955	Thunder in the Realm (Canada)
1955	The Legend of Pepito	Sam Wanamaker, Jacqueline Hill
1956	The Reclining Figure	Donald Wolfit
1956	For the Defence
1956	The Condemned	Andre Morell, Sean Connery
1956	Epitaph	Trevor Howard, Leo McKern
1956	The Seat of the Scornful	Basil Sydney, Finlay Currie, Jacqueline Hill
1956	No Man's Land	Alec McCowen
1957	Dial 999 (3 episodes of the film series)
1957	The Staring Match
1957	Requiem for a Heavyweight	Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Warren Mitchell
1957	Our Town	Heather Sears
1958	The Caine Mutiny Court Martial
1958	Breakdown	Nigel Davenport, Roger Livesey
1958	Man in the Corner
1959	Velvet Alley	Sam Wanamaker, Jacqueline Hill
1959	The Ransom of Red Chief (USA)	William Bendix, Hans Conreid
1959	The Dark Side of the Earth
1960	The Leather Jungle	Freddie Mills, Neil McCallum
1960	A Town Has Turned to Dust	Rod Steiger
1960	Come In Razor Red	Richard Harris
1961	Joker's Justice	Dan Massey, Leo McKern
1961	The Room by Harold Pinter
1961	A Reason for Staying	Anthony Quayle, Denholm Elliot, Warren Mitchell
1962	Z Cars - On Watch
1962	Heart to Heart by Terence Rattigan ('The Largest Theatre in the World', European Union television drama entry)	Kenneth More, Ralph Richardson, Wendy Craig, Jean Marsh
1962	A Quiet Game of Cards	Bernard Braden
1962	Call Me Back	Alec McCowen
1963	The Remarkable Incident at Carsons Corners
1964	The Seekers	Michael Bryant
1964	The Blackpool Trilogy	Julia Foster, Nicola Pagett
1965	Court Martial (series)	Peter Graves, Bradford Dillman
1966	You'll Know Me by the Stars in My Eyes	Jane Asher, Nigel Patrick, Phylis Calvert
1966	The Move After Checkmate	Michael Crawford
1966	The Sweet War Man	Kenneth More
1967	The Girl	Joss Ackland, Brenda Bruce
1967	The Man Who Understood Women	Jane Asher
1967	Call Me Daddy (Emmy Award)	Donald Pleasence
1968	Murder	Peter Egan
1971	A Kiss is Just a Kiss	Keir Dullyea
1971	Summer and Smoke	Lee Remick
1972	Blur & Blank via Cleckheaton	Denholm Elliot
1972	A Man About a Dog	Richard Johnson, Kate O'Mara
1972	The Adventures of Don Quixote	Rex Harrison, Frank Finlay, Rosemary Leach
1973	Shadow of a Gunman	Stephen Rea, Sinead Cusack
1973	Harlequinade	Edith Evans, Denholm Elliott, Joyce Redman
1974	Cheap in August	Leo McKern, Virginia McKenna
1974	Jan & Tony, "Rooms"
1974	How to Impeach A President (USA)
1974	A Brisk Dip Sagaciously Considered
1974	Shall We Have a King?(USA)
1975	Husband to Mrs Fitzherbert	Nicholas Jones
1975	The Nicest Man in the World	Celia Johnson
1975	In Praise of Love	Kenneth More, Claire Bloom
1975	The October Crisis (Canada)
1975	Lulu Street (Canada)
1975	The Liberty Tree	Jeremy Irons, Julian Fellowes
1976	The Killers
1976	Mrs Amsworth	Glynis Johns
1976	The Promise
1976	The Dame Of Sark	Celia Johnson
1977	The Kitchen	Peter Egan, Sinéad Cusack
1978	Romeo & Juliet	Alan Rickman, Celia Johnson, Michael Hordern, Jacqueline Hill
1980	The Quiet Days of Mrs Stafford	Susan Littler
1981	The Breadwinner	Michael Gambon
1982	Disraeli	Richard Pasco
1982	A Voyage Round My Father (Emmy Award)	Laurence Olivier, Alan Bates, Jane Asher
1983	Fireworks For Elspeth	Fiona Shaw
1983	Mr Halpern & Mr Johnson	Laurence Olivier, Jackie Gleason
1983	A Talent For Murder	Laurence Olivier, Angela Lansbury
1984	The First Olympics, Athens 1896	Angela Lansbury, Louis Jordan, David Caruso
1985	Paradise Postponed (series)	Zoe Wanamaker, David Threlfall, Michael Hordern, etc.
1989	Haunting Harmony
1990	Gas & Candles
1991/1992	Sam Saturday (Series)
1992	The Best Of Friends	John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Patrick McGoohan
1997	A Dance to the Music of Time (Series)	Miranda Richardson, Simon Russell Beale, Alan Bennet, John Gielgud

Theatre (Director)
Year	Play	Cast
1965	Hamlet, Bristol Old Vic	Richard Pasco, Barbara Leigh Hunt, Margaret Courtney, etc.
1982	Celia Johnson Theatre fund, Aldwych Theatre	Ralph Richardson, Jeremy Irons, Richard Briers, etc.
1984	Cruise Charity, Albert Hall	Richard Briers, John Gielgud, Penelope Keith, Wayne Sleep, etc.
1995	Stage Struck by Simon Gray, The Mill at Sonning	Nicholas Jones
2001-2002	Too Marvelous For Words, The Story of lyricist Johnny Mercer (writer and director) The Mill at Sonning
2002	Too Marvelous For Words, King's Head Theatre, London
2002	I Remember You by Bernard Slade, The Mill at Sonning
2005	Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan, The Mill at Sonning	Anthony Valentine, Glynis Barber
2007	Same Time Next Year by Bernard Slade, The Mill at Sonning	(Steven Pacey, Shona Lindsay)
2009	A Sentimental Journey, The Story of Doris Day. The Mill at Sonning	Sally Hughes, Glyn Kerslake
2010	A Sentimental Journey, The Story of Doris Day. Wilton's, London
2011	The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (The World's first stage adaptation of the famous crime novel. Adapted with his son John D. Rakoff) The Mill at Sonning

**Writing (Television, Films, Plays, Novels)**
Year	Title	Role
1953	The Troubled Air	Adaptor (TV)
1953	A Flight of Fancy	Writer (TV)
1953	Our Town	Adaptor (TV)
1954	Waiting for Gillian	Co-Adaptor (TV)
1958	The Caine Mutiny Court Martial	Adaptor (TV)
1970	Say Hello To Yesterday	Writer (Film)
1973	A Man About Dog	Adaptor (TV)
1973	Shadow Of A Gunman	Adaptor (TV)
1978	City On Fire	Co-Writer (Film)
1991/1992	Sam Saturday	Creator (TV series)
1996	& Gillian	Novel (Little Brown)
2001/2	Too Marvelous For Words	Writer (Musical)
2008	Baldwin Street	Novel (Bunim & Bannigan, New York)
2012	The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler	Stage Adaptator
2014	The Seven Einsteins	Novel (Author House)