British Director Charles Jarrott Dies In LA At 83

LOS ANGELES (AP) — British director Charles Jarrott, whose career of nearly 50 years in film and television included the acclaimed British royalty dramas "Anne of the Thousand Days" and "Mary, Queen of Scots," has died, a spokeswoman said Saturday. He was 83.

Jarrott, who had been suffering from prostate cancer, died Friday night at the Woodland Hills retirement community operated by the Motion Picture & Television Fund, the organization's spokeswoman Jaime Larkin said.

The London-born Jarrott served in the Royal Navy during World War II and was an actor before taking up directing in 1954. He worked mostly in television, then went on to direct a prominent string of feature films in the 1960s and 1970s.

He won a Golden Globe for directing Richard Burton as Henry VIII in 1969's "Anne of the Thousand Days," which told the story of the Tudor monarch and Anne Boleyn.

Two years later, he returned with the similarly themed "Mary, Queen of Scots," with Vanessa Redgrave in the title role.

The two films, produced by Hollywood legend and "Casablanca" producer Hal Wallis, were nominated for a combined 15 Academy Awards.

He went on to direct 1974's "The Doves," 1976's "The Littlest Horse Thieves," and 1977's "The Other Side of Midnight," starring John Beck and Susan Sarandon.

He returned to television in his career's final decades, winning an Emmy for the 1995 made-for-TV movie "A Promise Kept: The Oksana Baiul Story."

He directed one final feature film, "Turn of Faith" with Charles Durning in 2002.

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