About

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

Alvin Rakoff ABC Play Wins Emmy

Highlights of his career include:

Actors Alvin has worked with include:

.. and many, many more.

Sketch by Roger Moore

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)

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