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He was a producer and production manager, known for Vanishing Point (1971), Hobson's Choice (1954) and Great Expectations (1946). He was married to Barbara Sheppard. He died on 16 August 2024 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK.
Norman Spencer (1923–1999), radio and television producer, was born on 21 January 1923 at Brunswick, Melbourne, second of five children of Victorian-born Walter Ernest Theodore Spencer, public servant, and his English-born wife Dulcie Ford, née Pink.
Oct 11, 2024 · Norman Leslie Spencer, film producer and production manager, born 13 August 1914; died 16 August 2024 CINETEXT/ALLSTAR/ SPORTSPHOTO Spencer during the filming of Cry Freedom in Zimbabwe, 1986.
- Overview
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Norman Leslie Spencer (born 13 August 1914) is a British centenarian, film producer, production manager, and screenwriter, especially notable for his collaborations with director David Lean during the 1940s and 1950s.
Spencer has been the oldest known living man in London since the death of Donald Blout, and is also among the oldest known living men in the United Kingdom.
Early Life
Spencer was born on 13 August 1914 in Stockwell, London, and grew up in Essex.
Career
Spencer began in the film industry in the mid-1930s, initially doing extra work. He first met David Lean when he was a gofer at Denham Studios and Lean was an editor. His first job on a Lean film was as assistant director on Lean's debut as a director, In Which We Serve (1942). Spencer became Lean's production manager after joining Cineguild Productions in 1944, and went on to work on Lean's acclaimed adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations (1946), and later co-scrpited and co-produced Lean's film of Harold Brighouse's play, Hobson's Choice (1954). Lean's first casting suggestion for the lead role was Welsh-born Roger Livesey, but Spencer convinced him to cast Charles Laughton instead, later explaining: "Laughton was a Yorkshireman and he would be playing a Lancastrian, so you'd get regional accuracy, more or less, with international casting. And I thought it needed that size of character." Spencer's last producing credit for Lean was Summertime (1955), which, according to Spencer, Lean was asked to direct by producer Alexander Korda. Spencer later collaborated with Lean on a re-write of the script for The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) leading up to the film's production, after Lean was unhappy with the one Carl Foreman had written. Foreman was later asked to re-write the script by the film's producer Sam Spiegel. Spencer would work again for Lean on the Moroccan shoot for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), although his work was uncredited. Spencer's later producing credits include the American action film Vanishing Point (1971) and Richard Attenborough's film Cry Freedom (1987).
Personal Life
Spencer married Barbara Sheppard in 1943. The couple had two children. As of 2009, Spencer was living in Denham, Buckinghamshire. In July 2013, Spencer attended a special screening of Great Expectations at Wolterton Hall, Norfolk. Spencer became a centenarian in August 2014. He currently lives in London at the age of 109 years, 275 days.
•Norman Spencer IMDb
•Norman Spencer BFI
•British Entertainment History Project History Project 22 June 1999
•Hollywood film producer takes French lessons in Iver Heath Bucks Free Press, 26 August 2009
•On Location: A 'Summertime' Romance In Venice WBUR, 31 August 2011
•Film chief and son of Oscar winner son attend screening of David Lean classic at Wolterton Hall Eastern Daily Press, 27 July 2013
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Sep 5, 2024 · Norman Spencer, the British producer, production manager and screenwriter who worked alongside famed director David Lean on films including Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations, The Bridge on the...
Jun 22, 1999 · A Summary of the NORMAN SPENCER Interview. File 453. SIDE ONE. Born 1914 in Stockwell, near Brixton: the family moving shortly afterwards to the outskirts of Billericay in Essex, and eventually right into the town.
Sep 5, 2024 · Spencer married Barbara Sheppard in 1943, and the couple have two children, per IMDb.
