Bruce Beresford Bruce Beresford i(A23825 works by)
Born: Established: 1940 Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

One of the vanguard filmmakers of the Australian film renaissance of the 1970s, several of his early career productions are considered to be among the most influential and successful films of that era - notably The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, Don's Party, The Getting of Wisdom, Breaker Morant and The Club. Bruce Beresford later went on to establish himself as an internationally renowned director, working with some of the leading American actors of his generation. His career to date includes more than thirty feature films.

The son of Leslie and Lona Beresford, Beresford grew up in the outer western suburb of Toongabbie and attended The King's School (Sydney). After graduating from Sydney University in 1962 he moved to London but found it difficult to do so due to the heavily unionised film industry and so eventually accepted a job for two years as a film editor in where film editing job in Nigeria. He later returned to the United Kingdom where between 1966 and 1971 he served as Film Officer for the British Film Institute Production Board and as Film Advisor to the Arts Council of Great Britain. After returning to Australia in 1971 he collaborated with Barry Humphries in bringing to the screen the comedian's cartoon character 'Barry McKenzie' (qq.v.). Beresford's first feature film, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie became an Australian hit when released in 1972.

Following the success of Breaker Morant in 1980 Beresford attracted the interest of Hollywood and among the dozens of scripts he was offered was Tender Mercies (1983), which became his first US film as director. It earned Beresford his only Academy Award nomination for Best Director to date. Among his best known Hollywood films are Driving Miss Daisy, Black Robe, Double Jeopardy and The Contract. Among his most recent successes, too, has been his adaptation of Mao's Last Dancer.

In addition to his film work Beresford has also directed several operas including Puccini's Girl of the Golden West (1986) for the Spoleto Festival, Charleston, and Spoleto, Italy; Strauss' Elektra (1991) for the State Opera Company of South Australia (it won the Award for Best Opera Production of 1991): Sweeney Todd (1996) for the Portland Opera, Oregon; Wagner's The Crucible (1998) for the Washington Opera; Verdi's Rigoletto (2000) for the Los Angeles Opera; Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree (2001) for the Houston Grand Opera; and Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire (2007) for Opera Australia.

In 2012 Beresford was awarded an International Achievement Award at the 2012 Screen Music Awards.

In 2016, Beresford was one of two Australian directors (along with Phillip Noyce) to work on the American reboot of Alex Haley's novel Roots.

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Further Reference:

    • 'Bruce Beresford.' Interviewed by Peter Thompson. Talking Heads. ABC TV - online (sighted 15/09/2010)

  • Filmography (as writer and/or director) includes:

    • 1972: The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (q.v., writer/director)
    • 1974: Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (q.v., writer/director)
    • 1975: Side by Side (writer/director)
    • 1976: Don's Party (q.v., director)
    • 1978: Money Movers (q.v., writer/director)
    • 1978: The Getting of Wisdom (q.v., director)
    • 1978: Blue Fin (director)
    • 1980: Breaker Morant (q.v., writer/director)
    • 1980: The Club (q.v., director)
    • 1981: Puberty Blues (q.v., director)
    • 1983: Tender Mercies (director)
    • 1985: King David (director)
    • 1986: The Fringe Dwellers (q.v., writer/director)
    • 1986: Crimes of the Heart (director)
    • 1987: Aria (writer/director)
    • 1989: Her Alibi (director)
    • 1989: Driving Miss Daisy (director)
    • 1990: Mr Johnson (director)
    • 1991: Black Robe (director)
    • 1993: Rich in Love (director)
    • 1994: A Good Man in Africa (director)
    • 1994: Silent Fall (director)
    • 1994: Curse of the Starving Class (writer)
    • 1996: Last Dance (director)
    • 1997: Paradise Road (q.v., writer/director)
    • 1999: Sydney: A Story of a City (director)
    • 1999: Double Jeopardy (director)
    • 2001: Bride of the Wind (director)
    • 2002: Evelyn (director)
    • 2003: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself (TV, director)
    • 2006: Orpheus (TV, director)
    • 2006: The Contract (director)
    • 2009: Mao's Last Dancer (director)

Awards for Works

form y separately published work icon Ladies in Black ( dir. Bruce Beresford ) Australia : Lumila Films , 2018 10891394 2018 single work film/TV

'Set in the summer of 1959, when the impact of European migration and the rise of women’s liberation is about to change Australia forever, a shy schoolgirl (Lisa) takes a summer job at the prestigious Sydney department store, Goode’s. There she meets the 'ladies in black', who will change her life forever. Beguiled and influenced by Magda, the vivacious manager of the high-fashion floor, and befriended by fellow sales ladies Patty and Fay, Lisa is awakened to a world of possibilities. As Lisa grows from a bookish schoolgirl to a glamorous and positive young woman, she herself becomes a catalyst for a cultural change in everyone’s lives.'

Source: Screen Australia.

2019 nominated AFCA Film Awards Best Director
2019 nominated AFCA Film Awards Best Film
2018 nominated Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Screenplay - Original or Adapted
2018 nominated Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Director
2018 nominated Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Film
2018 nominated Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards Best Adapted Screenplay
2018 nominated Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards Best Film
y separately published work icon Josh Hartnett Definitely Wants to Do This ... : True Stories from a Life in the Screen Trade London Pymble : Fourth Estate , 2007 Z1408791 2007 selected work diary 'Award-winning film-maker Bruce Beresford takes us through the highs and lows of the screen trade - from high-powered dinner tables to obscure backlots, from the centres of power to far-flung locations - with a cast of characters that includes Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Jeffrey Archer, Steven Seagal, and many others. Delightfully literate and sharply observed, this is a highly entertaining insider's account of a rarely glimpsed world. (Publisher's blurb)
2008 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Australian Biography of the Year
Last amended 30 May 2016 08:31:34
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