Alvin Rakoff — February 6, 1927- October 12, 2024

ALVIN Rakoff was a multi-award-winning writer, director and producer of more than 100 television, film and stage productions as well as novels.

His longstanding career began with the early days of live black and white BBC television drama and lasted an almost unprecedented seven decades, with Alvin continuing to work into his nineties.

He was married to Sally Hughes, the owner and managing director of the Mill at Sonning. They met at the theatre 30 years ago and married in 2013.

Mrs Hughes said: “He directed quite a few plays for us during those 30 years. His talent and expertise helped to raise the standards of the Mill even more.

“As a director, I learned so much from him. Among the plays he directed were Same Time Next Year, Separate Tables and A Sentimental Journey — The Story of Doris Day.

“He also filmed two of John Mortimer’s projects — A Voyage Round My Father and Paradise Postponed. Both were filmed in and around Henley.

“Laurence Olivier and Alvin stayed at Phyllis Court when they were filming Voyage for which Alvin won his second Emmy award. Peter Egan starred in Paradise and was also the the Mill’s first artistic director.”

Born in Toronto on February 6, 1927, Alvin was the third of seven children to father, Sam and mother, Pearl (née Isenberg) who owned a dry goods shop in Baldwin Street. It was a deprived upbringing with the family poverty-stricken following the Great Depression in 1929. Later he would write about these experiences in his second novel, Baldwin Street.

At the age of six, Alvin was taken to the cinema by his parents for the first time and the experience ignited his interest in storytelling. By the age of 16 he began writing seriously.

After graduating from the University of Toronto with a psychology degree, Alvin’s early days as a reporter helped to hone his writing skills, thrashing out thousands of words a day on news stories.

Over time, Alvin found this work could easily dry up leaving him without a steady income. As a result he had to seriously reconsider his vocation.

Having again fallen on hard times, Alvin, along with his brother Syd, decided to take over the family shop, which was “always failing…” as Alvin later put it, “my father was always going bankrupt.” That very weekend Alvin took a trip to New York for a last minute break before settling into his new job.

It was here, while watching Marlon Brando on stage in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire that Alvin’s life changed forever. His performance electrified Alvin. Having left the theatre that day, Alvin made the decision to try to make it in showbusiness.

Alvin’s first job was as a writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), which he enjoyed but he longed to direct. The CBC sponsored Alvin to visit the UK — “the place where TV started,” as Alvin called it. In 1952, he sold his car to buy a boat ticket from Canada to the UK. Within days of arriving, Alvin sold his first script to the BBC, the UK’s only television broadcaster at the time. He was soon invited to join the BBC’s director’s training course and the following year, at the age of 26, he became the youngest producer/director in the BBC drama department.

Alvin recalled: “In those days, the two roles were combined. The BBC insisted that trainees be knowledgeable in all forms of television. I worked on horse shows, cricket matches, variety, stand-up, big bands, small bands. Perhaps that’s why it seemed logical in later productions to use different techniques.”

Waiting For Gillian (1954) was one of Alvin’s very first productions. It was a play that had failed on the stage but remarkably became a success on the television screen. So successful in fact it was his adaptation that gained a National Television Award for Best Play. He was then invited to Paris to direct and produce it — live and in French.

In Requiem For A Heavyweight (1957), Alvin took a chance on an at yet unknown actor, Sean Connery, giving him his first leading role (at the suggestion of Alvin’s soon-to-be-wife and actress, Jacqueline Hill). A young, equally unknown Michael Caine was also cast as a background boxer.

Alvin had to fight off such opposition to the casting that he even had a visit from the BBC’s then head of drama, Michael Barry whom he had to convince Connery was the right man for the job. The risky casting paid off and Requiem For A Heavyweight received an exceptional response.

A few years later, Alvin received a telephone call from Harry Saltzman and Albert R “Cubby” Broccoli, whom Alvin later recalled informed him that they were considering Patrick McGoohan, Roger Moore and Sean Connery for the part of James Bond.

Having worked with all three, Alvin gave his opinion. The best actor was McGoohan, the most affable was Moore but the one he felt they should cast was Connery. The rest is history.

Alvin became a leading light in the early days of television drama, winning awards and international acclaim and collaborating with the leading actors and writers of the day. He was selected to represent the best of British talent on the international stage and to direct the very first productions to launch BBC2. He often produced deeply thought-provoking drama – dealing with issues such as racism, the Holocaust and feminism that are as topical today as they were untouched then.

All this was achieved under difficult circumstances. Most significantly, at the time television was broadcast live — nothing could be pre-recorded. There was no room for error. Live television was not for the faint-hearted.

In 1962, the BBC chose Alvin to direct and produce the UK‘s entry for the Largest Theatre in the World. This European-wide initiative was designed to highlight leading talent from countries across Europe.

The UK‘s entry, Heart To Heart, written by Terence Rattigan, was viewed by an estimated audience of 80 million. The production starred Kenneth More, Ralph Richardson, and Wendy Craig.

Alvin would go on to work with More in two other productions, The Comedy Man (1964) and In Praise of Love (1976) also written by Rattigan, and co-starring Claire Bloom.

He won his first Emmy Award for Call Me Daddy (1967), starring Donald Pleasance and Judy Cornwell. This two-hander was initially little more than a sketch but in rehearsal it was soon enlarged into a full-length television play by Donald, Julie and Alvin.

It went on to become one of the most successful UK television plays ever transmitted, garnering international plaudits. It would transfer later to the silver screen when it was re-titled Hoffman (1970) and starred Peter Sellers and Sinéad Cusack.

Alvin and Sellers became close friends during the making of the film, with Peter, an audio tech enthusiast, even designing and wiring in a sound system in Alvin’s recently bought house in Chiswick.

Hoffman holds one of the longest takes in cinema. The camera travels through six sets, touches 118 different positions and the shot lasts more than eight minutes.

Sadly, upon completion, Sellers viewed the finished film and felt it was far too close to him as an individual than a character he was portraying on screen. He turned his back on Hoffman and Alvin. The pain this caused Alvin remained with him for years to come.

Over the years, Alvin worked with many of the world’s most prestigious leading talent including Peter Cushing, Denholm Elliot, Julian Fellowes, Henry Fonda, Edward Fox, Michael Gambon, Ava Gardner, John Gielgud, Elliott Gould, Richard Harris, Michael Hordern, Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Patrick McGoohan, Roger Moore, Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jean Simmons, Rod Steiger, Sam Wanamaker and Shelley Winters.

Alvin also nurtured many emerging talents during his long and illustrious career including Simon Russell Beale, whom Alvin cast in his first television work in 1997’s A Dance to the Music of Time, which would go on to win him a BAFTA for best actor, Michael Crawford, Judi Dench, Jeremy Irons, Alan Rickman, whom Alvin cast in his first professional role with the 1978 production of Romeo and Juliet, David Threlfall and Zoë Wanamaker.

Out of all of Alvin’s work it was the 1982 drama A Voyage Round My Father with Laurence Olivier, Alvin’s childhood hero, that stayed his favourite until the end. Written by John Mortimer and co-starring Alan Bates and Jane Asher, it would gift Alvin with his second Emmy Award.

Alvin and Olivier worked extremely well together, so much so they would collaborate on two other occasions, Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson and A Talent For Murder (both 1983).

As well as a writer, director and producer of screen and stage work, Alvin was also an author of three incredibly successful novels.

His first, titled & Gillian received critical praise upon publication in 1996 and was later translated into 10 languages.

Alvin published the first volume of a long-awaited series of autobiographies with I’m Just The Guy Who Says Action in 2021. It received great critical and public praise, with Stephen Fry calling it “an absolute blast”. The second volume, I Need Another Take, Darling, was published the following year.

He continued working on ideas for new projects all the way into 2024, his final, 97th year. His extraordinary mind remained active even though his body was failing with old age.

Alvin Rakoff passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family in the same beautiful old house in Chiswick he had bought back in 1971. He is survived by his devoted wife and two children from his first marriage to the late Jacqueline Hill (d. 1993): Dr Sasha Rakoff, a charity executive and John Rakoff, a film producer.

His stepson Adam Rolston is co-managing director and co-artistic director of the Mill at Sonning with Mrs Hughes, and a film producer.

Alvin has five grandchildren and one surviving sibling, his sister Lorraine, a retired interior designer who still lives in Toronto. Alvin was also the former President of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.