Bryan Forbes

Read the address at a small gathering of friends remembering the life of Jane Baxter (1909-96) at her local church in Wimbledon. She had made a specific request in her will that no formal memorial service be held.

Bryan Forbes was born on July 22, 1926 in Stratford, London, England as John Theobald Clarke.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 345-349. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

Served with Roger Moore in the British Army of Occupation in Germany in 1947.

Established Allied Film Makers (AFM) in 1959 along with Richard Attenborough, Guy Green, Basil Dearden, Michael Relph and Jack Hawkins. AFM acted as a producers co-operative in conjunction with The Rank Organisation which provided 10% of the costs (but no artistic control). The first collaboration was The League of Gentlemen (1960) in 1960, which was the sixth most successful box-office film of 1960.

Together with his long-time friend and collaborator Richard Attenborough, he established Beaver Films Limited, an independent production company that went on to produce three respected films; The Angry Silence (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961) and Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). The name "Beaver" was apparently the invention of their wives, Nanette Newman and Sheila Sim. Today, now-Lord Attenborough, lives at Beaver Lodge.

He was an actor, writer, and director, known for The Guns of Navarone (1961), The Whisperers (1967) and Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). He was married to Nanette Newman and Constance Smith.

Collaborated with composer John Barry on many of the films he directed, starting in 1962 with The L-Shaped Room (1962).

Owned and operated a small book shop in the village of Virginia Water from 1968-71.

Took over the direction of The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) after John Huston walked out shortly before filming was due to start.

His salary as Head of Production/Managing Director EMI-MGM Elstree was reported by The Times (March 26th 1971) as £35,000 p.a. The same article reported that at this time he could have been earning up to £150,000 per film had he continued his own successful career as actor/screenwriter/producer/director.

He was replaced by Richard Lester as the director of Juggernaut (1974).

Had a bad relationship with writer William Goldman on The Stepford Wives (1975), claiming he found Goldman arrogant and reluctant to rewrite his first-draft screenplay. Goldman in turn claimed that Forbes ruined the film by casting his wife Nanette Newman in a key role and that Forbes did all the rewriting himself at nights during filming. Despite this antagonism, Goldman got on well with Forbes' closest friend, Richard Attenborough when they worked together soon after on both A Bridge Too Far (1977) and Magic (1978). Many years later Attenborough hired Forbes to write the screenplay for Chaplin (1992), but his draft was subsequently rewritten by . . . William Goldman (and others). Forbes was reportedly very upset by this; he has had no screenplay credits since then.

In 1976 he wrote a shooting script from a screenplay by Christopher Wicking and John Starr for an unproduced Hammer film called "Nessie", about the Loch Ness monster.

In a BBC News report in 2004, it was reported that he had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1975, but has been in remission for almost 30 years. He put his subsequent remission down to a gluten-free diet and a loving wife.

A plaque to honor his career was unveiled at Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, on 3 February 2008. In addition to Forbes and his wife Nanette Newman, Richard Attenborough, one of Forbes' oldest friends, made a surprise guest appearance. This was the first visit by Forbes, the former Head of Production/Managing Director at EMI-MGM Elstree, for many years.

As of 2009 he was living in Wentworth, Surrey, England.