The Earthling

Peter Collinson (1 April 1936 – 16 December 1980) was a British film director probably best known for directing the 1969 movie The Italian Job.

Early life

Peter Collinson was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire in 1936. His parents, an actress and a musician, separated when he was two years old; he was raised by his grandparents. From ages eight to 14 he attended the Actor’s Orphanage in Chertsey, Surrey where he had the chance to write and act in many plays. Noel Coward, who was president of the orphanage at the time, became his godfather and helped him to obtain jobs in the entertainment industry.

In 1954 he was called up for national service and served two years in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency.

Career

His early television work included time as a floor manager for the BBC and directing for ATV at Elstree studios where he met Michael Klinger who would offer him the director role on his first film, The Penthouse. Collinson also worked with Telefís Éireann, the Republic of Ireland’s national TV station, and in 1963 he won a Jacob’s Award for his production, The Bomb.

Personal life

He emigrated with his wife Hazel and family from the UK to the United States in the mid-1970s.

Although Collinson was lauded as a talented director, he was also known as a rather sadistic authoritarian towards his actors. He directed William Holden and Rick Schroder in the 1980 movie The Earthling and was said to have driven the young child actor to tears on numerous occasions. It was during filming that Collinson discovered he was terminally ill. —Wikipedia