Terence Davies

British film director and screenwriter (1945–2023)

Terence Davies (10 November 1945 – 7 October 2023) was a British screenwriter, film director, and novelist.

Terence Davies
Born(1945-11-10)10 November 1945
Liverpool, England
Died7 October 2023(2023-10-07) (aged 77)
Mistley, England
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, film director
Years active1976–2023
Websiteterencedavies.com

He was born into an English working-class family in Liverpool, England. After years of low-level jobs he began studies at Coventry School of Drama in 1971 and later at the National Film School. He wrote a screenplay for his first short film, Children. This would be the first of three short movies that are known as The Terence Davies Trilogy.[1]

He is best known as the writer and director of movies based on his own life, including Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The Long Day Closes (1992) and Of Time and the City (2008). He has made movies based on novels, such as The House of Mirth (2000) and The Neon Bible (1995). His movies A Quiet Passion (2016) and Benediction (2021) are based on the lives of poets Emily Dickinson and Siegfried Sassoon.[2][3] Davies lived in Mistley, Essex.[4][5] In a 2022 interview, he said that he preferred to live alone and was single for much of his life, except for a heterosexual relationship in the late 1970s, "[when] there was still this attitude of: 'Well, find the right person and you'll be happy'"; he was subsequently uninterested in relationships with men, saying "I did go on to the gay scene for a couple of months and I thought, it's just not for me".

Davies died at his home on 7 October 2023, at the age of 77, following a short illness.[6][7][8]

Movies

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Year Title Notes
1976 Children short
1980 Madonna and Child short
1983 Death and Transfiguration short
1988 Distant Voices, Still Lives
1992 The Long Day Closes
1995 The Neon Bible
2000 The House of Mirth
2008 Of Time and the City documentary
2011 The Deep Blue Sea
2015 Sunset Song
2016 A Quiet Passion
2021 Benediction


References

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  1. "BFI Screenonline: Davies, Terence (1945-) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  2. Ellis, Jim (2002). "Davies, Terence (b. 1945)" (PDF). GLBTQ Archive. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  3. "Terence Davies - Official Website". Terence Davies. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  4. Koresky, Michael (7 October 2023). "Terence Davies obituary: farewell to a British master of poetic cinema". British Film Institute. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  5. Christopher, James (11 October 2008). "Director Terence Davies returns with dazzling Of Time and the City". The Times. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  6. Lattanzio, Ryan (7 October 2023). "Terence Davies, Master English Filmmaker, Dead at 77". IndieWire. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  7. Thorpe, Vanessa (7 October 2023). "Terence Davies, award-winning film-maker, dies at 77". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  8. "Terence Davies: Screenwriter and film director dies aged 77". BBC News. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2023.