Ken Annakin
Ken Annakin (born
August 10,
1914) is a
British film director. His career in films followed his work experience in documentaries. He made his directing debut in 1947 at the Rank studios. Annakin became known for a series of
Walt Disney adventures including
The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952),
The Sword and the Rose (1953) and
Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
He was later associated with another American producer
Darryl F. Zanuck when he was hired to direct the British segments in
The Longest Day. As head of the
20th Century-Fox Studio, Zanuck endorsed Annakin's most ambitious project
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). He also directed the big-scale war film
Battle of the Bulge (also 1965) for the
Warner Brothers studio.
However, some of Annakin's better received films are smaller-scale comedies and dramas, including his episodes in
Quartet (1948) and
Trio (1950), based on Somerset Maugham's stories,
Hotel Sahara (1951),
Across the Bridge (1957),
Crooks Anonymous (1962),
The Fast Lady (1963) and
The Informers (1963).
In 2002, Annakin was honoured by
Queen Elizabeth with an appointment to the
OBE.
He is a friend of
George Lucas, and as such, was used by Lucas as the source of the name for
Anakin Skywalker in
Star Wars.
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