Bill Bain (director)

{{about|the film director|other uses of this name|Bill Bain (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Bill Bain

| birth_name = Allen William Bain

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|12|18|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|2|22|1929|12|18|df=y}}

| death_place = London, England

| occupation = Director, Producer

| years_active = 1959–1982

}}

Bill Bain (18 December 1929 in Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia – 21 February 1982 in London, England) was an Australian television and film director.

Biography

=Australia=

Bill Bain originally trained as a school teacher, but became a pioneer of Australian television after he joined the fledgling Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1950s.{{cite magazine|magazine=ABC Weekly|page=44|title=Introducing Bill Bain |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1414270058}}

In Australia, he directed the country's first TV pantomime for Christmas in 1959.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44024232 |title=No Ill Will at Christmas |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |date=30 December 1959 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=42 |via=Trove }} He also directed the TV plays Corinth House (1961) and Funnel Web (1962).

=Britain=

He left Australia in 1963 for Europe and directed numerous episodes of British television series, including Harpers West One, Emerald Soup, The Avengers, Callan, Redcap, Upstairs Downstairs, The Duchess of Duke Street, Enemy at the Door, The Brack Report, and Armchair Theatre.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51779532 |title=DID YOU KNOW? |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |date=22 April 1964 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=16 |via=Trove }}

It was noteworthy that "For many, Upstairs, Downstairs and The Duchess of Duke Street typify excellence in British television drama. The leading director for both series was Bill Bain, an Australian".{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Scott |last2=Beilby |first2=Peter |last3=Philippe |first3=Mora |year=1978 |title=Bill Bain Interview with Scott Murray |url=http://ro.uow.edu.au/cp/17 |journal=Cinema Papers |volume=17 |pages=10–13 |access-date=2021-11-09}}

For Amicus he directed a feature film What Became of Jack and Jill?.{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|title=Ten random Australian connections with Hammer Films|date=June 28, 2020 }} Bain called the film "a savage indictment of the shallow education young people get today."{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=19 March 1973|page=53|title=Cueing in the Cucumbers}} Another 'one off' was a TV adaptation of a Noël Coward short story called Pretty Polly in which he directed Lynn Redgrave. {{cite news |url=https://televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/pretty-polly |title='Pretty Polly' |newspaper=Television Heaven |access-date=5 February 2020}} On location in Sri Lanka, he directed an episode of the 1973 Australian-British-German series Elephant Boy based on the Rudyard Kipling story Toomai of the Elephants.

Bain returned to Australia briefly in 1973 where he lamented the quality of local television.{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=19 March 1973|page=53|title=Cueing in the Cucumbers}} He came back in 1975 to attempt to set up a $1 million feature about opal mining.{{cite news|title=Director in Talks on $1 m Aust film|date=3 November 1975|page=2|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald}}

He won an Emmy Award in 1975 for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for his work on the Upstairs, Downstairs episode "The Sudden Storm".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article102187456 |title='Upstairs chap'down under Bill Bain home with an Emmy |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=24 November 1975 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=3 |via=Trove }}

In 1979, he returned to Australia for three months to be a consultant at the Film and Television School.

In 1968, he married the British actress Rosemary Frankau{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51202122 |title=SOCIAL ROUNDABOUT |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |date=29 May 1968 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=10 |via=Trove }} and they had two sons Matthew and Sam Bain.

He died in St Stephens Hospital in London aged 52.{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|title=Film director found success in England|date=23 February 1982|page=10}} The cause of his death was melanoma.

Select filmography

Corinth House (1961)
Harlequinade (1961)
The Little Woman (1962)
Fly by Night (1962)
Funnel Web (1962)
Emerald Soup (1963){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46450000 |title=TV serial a multi-nation affair |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |date=23 October 1963 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=17 |via=Trove }}
The Tilted Screen (1966)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1968){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107044188 |title=TELEVISION Miss Jones' new format |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=29 March 1968 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=13 |via=Trove }}
All Out for Kangaroo Valley (1969){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107902258 |title=Kangaroo Valley' play on BBC |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=7 November 1969 |access-date=5 February 2020 |page=17 |via=Trove }}
What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972) - feature

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0047688|Bill Bain}}

Category:1929 births

Category:1982 deaths

Category:Australian film directors

Category:Australian television directors

Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners

Category:Australian expatriates in England

Category:Frankau family