John Roger Spottiswoode[2] (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and television.

Roger Spottiswoode
Born
John Roger Spottiswoode

(1945-01-05) 5 January 1945 (age 79)
Nationality
  • Canadian
  • British
Occupation(s)Film director
Film editor
Screenwriter
Years active1966-present
Organization(s)Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of Canada
Spouse
(m. 1983; div. 1997)
Children2
Awards

Early life

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He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain.[3] His father Raymond Spottiswoode was a British film theoretician[4] who worked at the National Film Board of Canada during the 1940s, directing short films such as Wings of a Continent.

Career

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In the 1960s, Spottiswoode entered the British film industry as a trainee editor where he apprenticed under editor John Bloom. In the early 1970s Spottiswoode edited several films for Sam Peckinpah.[5]

He wanted to direct and Walter Hill advised him the best way in was to write a script. Hill and Spottiswoode collaborated on the scripts for 48 Hours and the never-made The Last Gun. [6]

Spottiswoode turned to directing in the early 1980s and has since directed a number of notable films and television productions, including Under Fire (1983)[7] and the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies starring Pierce Brosnan.[8] Spottiswoode was a member of the writing team responsible for 48 Hrs. starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte.[9] In 2000, he directed the science fiction action thriller The 6th Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.[10]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Notes Refs
1980 Terror Train [11]
1981 The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper Replaced director Buzz Kulik[12]
1983 Under Fire
1986 The Best of Times [13]
1988 Shoot to Kill [14]
1989 Turner & Hooch
1990 Air America [15]
1992 Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot [16]
1994 Mesmer [17]
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies
2000 The 6th Day
2003 Spinning Boris [18]
2005 Ripley Under Ground
2007 Shake Hands with the Devil [19]
2008 The Children of Huang Shi [20]
2012 Beyond Right and Wrong Documentary film
Co-directed with Lekha Singh
2014 The Journey Home Co-directed with Brando Quilici
2016 A Street Cat Named Bob
2021 Either Side of Midnight

As editor

As writer

Television

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Year Title Notes
1982 The Renegades Episode "Pilot"

TV movies

Awards and nominations

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Won

Nominated

References

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  1. ^ Roger Spottiswoode's bio at www.northernstars.ca
  2. ^ Spottiswoode, John Roger. "Directors Guild of Canada". dgc.ca.
  3. ^ "Making the movies Hollywood doesn't want" by Johanna Schneller at www.theglobeandmail.com
  4. ^ "Criticism: The 1930s: theory and debate" by Geoff Brown at screenonline.org
  5. ^ "All Aboard...If You Dare!: An Interview with Roger Spottiswoode".
  6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (14 July 2020). ""John Wick with spurs" – A look at Walter Hill's Unmade The Last Gun". Diabolique.
  7. ^ "Screen: 'Under Fire'" by Vincent Canby at www.nytimes.com
  8. ^ Tomorrow Never Dies Review by Todd McCarthy at variety.com
  9. ^ "Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in '48 HOURS'" by Janet Maslin at www.nytimes.com
  10. ^ The 6th Day Review by Todd McCarthy at variety.com
  11. ^ "Spottiswoode's 'Terror Train'" by John Corry (original context from October 3, 1980, Section C, Page 10) at www.nytimes.com
  12. ^ The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper Review - "Begun by director John Frankenheimer, continued by director Buzz Kulik and finally finished by Spottiswoode" at variety.com
  13. ^ "Film: 'Best of Times,' Football Story" by Walter Goodman (original context from January 31, 1986, Section C, Page 20) at www.nytimes.com
  14. ^ Shoot to Kill review at variety.com
  15. ^ Air America review at variety.com
  16. ^ Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot review at variety.com
  17. ^ Mesmer review by Leonard Klady at variety.com
  18. ^ Spinning Boris review by David Rooney at variety.com
  19. ^ Shake Hands With the Devil Review at www.hollywoodreporter.com
  20. ^ "Spottiswoode’s Nanjing drama surfaces" by Etan Vlessing at playbackonline.ca
  21. ^ "‘Trahir’ tops Montreal" by Brendan Kelly at variety.com
  22. ^ "Fest’s big ‘Screen’" by David Rooney at variety.com
  23. ^ 2008 Genie Nominees at www.thestar.com
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