* Shepperton, Middlesex UK , Engeland 18.1.1933

Ook maakte hij lange tijd documentaires en T.V.-films voor de BBC.

In 1966 maakte hij zijn eerste langspeelfilm, Catch us if you can.

In 1967 vestigde hij zich in Hollywood waar hij Point Blank (1967) en Hell in thee pacific (1969) draaide.

Boorman left the dry cleaning business to become first a film critic and then an assistant film editor for Britain's Independent Television, before going on to produce documentaries for Southern Television. In 1962, while heading the BBC's Bristol Film Unit, he experimented with a dramatic documentary style, resulting in the series "Citizen 63" and "The Newcomers."

Boorman's first feature, HAVING A WILD WEEKEND (1965), was a competent, exuberant 1960s musical featuring the Dave Clark Five which attempted, unsuccessfully, to duplicate the success of the Beatles /Richard Lester groundbreaker A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964). After THE GREAT DIRECTOR (1966), a documentary on D.W. Griffith for the BBC, Boorman moved to the US and made the genre-bending POINT BLANK (1967). A taut, violent thriller starring Angie Dickinson and Lee Marvin and marked by a complex flashback narrative structure, the film went virtually unnoticed at the time but has since earned considerable critical acclaim.

Boorman's subsequent films, through ZARDOZ (1974), show off his impressive visual style, his gift for superior plotting and pace, and his recurrent concern with the themes of the hunt and survival. Among his greatest achievements is DELIVERANCE (1972), in which four Atlanta businessmen take off on a weekend canoe trip which turns into a nightmare. Adapted from the novel by James Dickey (who plays the sheriff in the film), DELIVERANCE was noted for its masterful handling of the civilization vs. nature theme, for an unforgettably gruesome scene in which one of the travelers is raped by a backwoodsman, and for outstanding cinematography, including extremely long takes, by Vilmos Zsigmond.

The son of one of the men was played by the director's son Charley Boorman, who later starred in THE EMERALD FOREST (1985) as a white child who is raised for ten years by a primitive Amazon tribe.

After the ill-conceived and overambitious EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (1977), Boorman returned to form with EXCALIBUR (1981), a retelling of Arthurian lore in keeping with the mythic, quest themes explored in his earlier films. The delightful, semi-autobiographical HOPE AND GLORY (1987) was a humorous account of a boy growing up in Blitz-torn London. WHERE THE HEART IS (1990), a savvy farce about 1980s values with faint echoes of Shakespeare's KING LEAR co-written with his daughter Telsche, was dismissed by most critics. Branching out, Boorman entered into a venture with British publishers Faber Books as co-editor and contributor to Projections, an annual film journal. His next feature, BEYOND RANGOON (1995), once again found Boorman examining political intrigues in a tropical climate.

         Nominated for Picture 1972: DELIVERANCE — Producer

         Nominated for Director 1972: DELIVERANCE

         Nominated for Picture 1987: HOPE AND GLORY — Producer

         Nominated for Director 1987: HOPE AND GLORY

         Nominated for Writing - Screenplay (Written Directly For The Screen) 1987: HOPE AND GLORY

Filmografie

1965   HAVING A WILD WEEKEND/CATCH US IF YOU CAN          director

1966   THE GREAT DIRECTOR                                              director

1967   POINT BLANK                                                          director

1968   HELL IN THE PACIFIC                                      director

1970   LEO THE LAST                                     director, screenwriter

1972   DELIVERANCE                                       producer, director

1974   ZARDOZ                                    producer, director, screenwriter

1977   EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC           producer, director

1981   EXCALIBUR    producer, director, screenwriter

1981   LONG SHOT   performer

1983   NEMO                                                          producer

1984   ANGEL                                                         executive producer

1985   THE EMERALD FOREST                                    producer, director

1987   HOPE AND GLORY               producer, director, screenwriter, performer

1990   WHERE THE HEART IS         producer, director, screenwriter

1991   I DREAMT I WOKE UP                   director, screenplay, performer

1995   BEYOND RANGOON                       producer, director

1996   TWO NUDES BATHING                  producer, director, screenwriter