Schlesinger, John

Schlesinger, John (Richard)

(born Feb. 16, 1926, London, Eng.—died July 25, 2003, Palm Springs, Calif., U.S.) British film and theatre director. He worked as an actor before becoming a documentary director for BBC television, where he won praise for his Terminus (1960). His feature films A Kind of Loving (1962) and Billy Liar (1963) were caustic depictions of English urban life. The successful Darling (1965) mocked the shallowness of the jet set, and he followed it with Far from the Madding Crowd (1967). His first American film, Midnight Cowboy (1969), won him an Academy Award. His later films include Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), Marathon Man (1976), Madame Sousatzka (1988), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), and The Next Best Thing (2000).