Ted Kotcheff
Ted Kotcheff | |
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Born | William Theodore Kotcheff April 7, 1931 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Other names | William T. Kotcheff Velichko Todorov Tsochev |
Citizenship |
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Occupations |
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Years active | 1956–present |
Spouses | |
Children | 5, including Thomas |
William Theodore Kotcheff (born April 7, 1931) is a Canadian director and producer of film and television.
Kotcheff has been nominated for a
He has been described by the Toronto International Film Festival as a “talented, multi-faceted journeyman director in the tradition of Leo McCarey or Robert Wise.”[4]
Early life
Kotcheff's name was registered in official documents as William Theodore Kotcheff
Career
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Ted Kotcheff" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2022) |
Canadian television
After graduating in English Literature from University College, University of Toronto, Kotcheff began his television career at the age of twenty-four when he joined the staff of the
British television
In 1958, he left Canada to live and work in the United Kingdom. He was soon followed by his compatriot Sydney Newman, who had been the Director of Drama at the CBC and then to the United Kingdom to take up a similar position at ABC Weekend TV, one of the franchise holders of the ITV network who also produced much of the nationally networked programming for the channel.
At ABC, Newman was producer of the popular
More successfully, Kotcheff directed the following year's
Theatre
Kotcheff also worked in the theatre.[17] He directed the original 1964-65 West End production of the musical Maggie May at the Adelphi Theatre,[18] which won the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Score of the Year and the Critics' Poll as Best New British Musical.[19]
British feature films
Kotcheff made his first film with Tiara Tahiti (1962). He directed other features during the decade, including Life at the Top (1965) and Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969).
He also directed The Human Voice (1967) for British television, starring Ingrid Bergman from a story by Jean Cocteau and TV remakes of The Desperate Hours (1967) and Of Mice and Men (1968). He directed the concert At the Drop of Another Hat for TV.
Kotcheff directed the Australian film Wake in Fright (USA: Outback, 1971; re-released with its original title, 2012).[20] It won much critical acclaim in Europe, and was Australia's entry at the Cannes Film Festival. (In 2009, Wake in Fright was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray disc in a fully restored version.)
Kotcheff returned to television, directing the
Return to Canada
He returned home to Canada, where he directed an adaptation of his friend and one-time housemate Mordecai Richler's novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974) which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival[21] making it the first English Canadian dramatic feature film to win an international award.
He wrote and directed The Trial of Sinyavsky and Daniel (1975) for Canadian television and was a production consultant on Why Shoot the Teacher? (1977).
Hollywood
In Hollywood, he directed Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) which was a big hit. He followed it with the comedy Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978) then wrote and directed North Dallas Forty (1979) which was critically acclaimed.
Kotcheff directed the Canadian film Split Image (1982), then had his biggest success to date with the Sylvester Stallone movie First Blood (1982), the first in the Rambo series. He worked on another Vietnam-themed action movie Uncommon Valor (1983), then returned to Canada to make Joshua Then and Now (1985), from the novel by Mordecai Richler.
Kotcheff directed Switching Channels (1988) and Winter People (1989), then had a big hit with Weekend at Bernie's (1989).
Television
In the 1990s, Kotcheff returned to directing for TV, working on various American series such as Red Shoe Diaries, and Buddy Faro as well as Casualty in the UK.
He did the occasional feature film such as Folks! (1992) and The Shooter (1995). He did TV movies like What Are Families for? (1993), Love on the Run (1994), Family of Cops (1995), A Husband, a Wife and a Lover (1996), Borrowed Hearts (1997), Cry Rape (1999). He joined the staff of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he acts as executive producer and director.
Personal life
Kotcheff lives in Beverly Hills with his wife Laifun. They have two children: Alexandra, a filmmaker, and Thomas, a composer and pianist. He has three children from his previous marriage to actress Sylvia Kay: Aaron, Katrina and Joshua.[citation needed] Ted Kotcheff is also vegetarian.[22]
In May and June 2013, he was invited to the Film Forum in New York City for a re-release of his film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, restored by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.[citation needed]
In February 2016, Kotcheff applied for Bulgarian citizenship via the Bulgarian consulate in Los Angeles,[23][24] and was granted this during a visit to Bulgaria in March.[25]
Given his Macedonian heritage, Kotcheff served on the board of directors of the Macedonian Arts Council. According to Kotcheff, there is not a difference between Macedonia and Bulgaria.[26]
Filmography
Director (Film)
- Tiara Tahiti (1962)
- Life at the Top (1965)
- Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969)
- Wake in Fright (1971)
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)
- Billy Two Hats (1974)
- Fun with Dick and Jane (1977)
- Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)
- North Dallas Forty(1979)
- Split Image (1982)
- First Blood (1982)
- Uncommon Valor (1983)
- Joshua Then and Now (1985)
- Switching Channels (1988)
- Weekend at Bernie's (1989)
- Winter People (1989)
- Folks!(1992)
- The Shooter (1995)
- Borrowed Hearts (1997)
Director (Television)
- On Camera (1956)—as W.T. Kotcheff
- Hour of Mystery(1957)
- Underground (1958)
- No Trams to Lime Street (1959)
- After the Funeral (1960)
- Lena, O My Lena (1960)
- I'll Have You Remember (1961)
- BBC Sunday-Night Play (1962-1963)
- ITV Television Playhouse (1963)
- Espionage (1963)
- Land of My Dreams (1964)
- First Night (1963-1964)
- Drama 64 (1964)
- Armchair Theatre (1958-1964)
- The Human Voice (1967)
- The Desperate Hours (1967)
- Edna, the Inebriate Woman (1971)
- What Are Families for? (1993)
- Red Shoe Diaries 3: Another Woman's Lipstick (1993)
- Love on the Run (1994)
- A Family of Cops(1995)
- Red Shoe Diaries 5: Weekend Pass (1995)
- A Husband, a Wife and a Lover (1996)
- Buddy Faro (1998)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
- Crime in Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly (1999)
Awards and honours
References
- ISBN 1554582792
- ^ Star, Martin Knelman Special to the (2011-10-28). "The apprenticeship of Ted Kotcheff". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ Star, Martin Knelman Special to the (2013-12-13). "Ted Kotcheff and Colm Feore honoured at Canadian Screen Awards". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ "Canadian Film Encyclopedia - Ted Kotcheff". cfe.tiff.net. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ Capital.bg (in Bulgarian). Economedia. 2016-02-29.
- ^ "Ted Kotcheff biography". filmreference.com. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
- ^ Slaviani, Tom 24, Slavianski komitet v Bŭlgaria, Komitet za bŭlgarite v chuzb̈ina, 1968, str. 87.
- ISBN 9780802029386. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
- ^ Loring M. Danforth The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, pp. 85-89: "The largest number of Slavic-speaking immigrants from Macedonia came to the United States during the first decades of the twentieth century, at which time they identified themselves either as Bulgarians or as Macedonian-Bulgarians".
- ^ "The apprenticeship of Ted Kotcheff | Toronto Star". thestar.com. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
- ^ "Duddy and Me | By Alec Scott | Summer 2016 | University of Toronto Magazine". magazine.utoronto.ca. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
- ISBN 9781877864308.
- ISBN 9780025716001.
- ISBN 9780812910599.
- ^ [1] Duddy and Me ()They were both immigrants from Bulgaria, she was of Macedonian descent
- ^ Ted Kotcheff’s Bulgarian journey. The Sofia Globe, March 24, 2016.
- ^ "Ted Kotcheff | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ "Production of Maggie May | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ "Obituary: Lionel Bart". The Independent. 1999-04-04. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
- ^ Hartl, John (October 25, 2012). "'Wake in Fright': Restored outback drama hasn't lost chilling effect". The Seattle Times.
- ^ a b "Berlinale 1974: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ^ Skinner, Craig (24 March 2014). "Ted Kotcheff discusses Wake in Fright, kangaroo slaughter and existentialism". Film Divider. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ^ В-к "Труд", 11.02.2016 г. Режисьорът на "Рамбо" Тед Кочев иска българско гражданство.
- ^ "Hollywood legend applies for Bulgarian citizenship". www.europost.bg. Retrieved 2016-08-05.
- ^ US Director Ted Kotcheff Granted Bulgarian Citizenship, Sofia News Agency, March 19, 2016.
- ^ Режисьорът Тед Кочев: България и Македония са едно. Вестник Труд, 16.03.2016 г.
- ^ "Ted Kotcheff Awards". IMDb. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- Independent Publisher. Retrieved May 30, 2018.