Trivia

Once screened Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with Steven Spielberg. Lean gave Spielberg a "live director's commentary" (as Spielberg put it). Spielberg said it was one of the best moments of his life, learning from a true master. Consequently, Spielberg stated that it helped him make better pictures and that commentary directly influenced every movie he has made since.

Originally wanted to direct Empire of the Sun (1987), but passed it on to Steven Spielberg because of advancing years.

Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick and Spike Lee have all cited Lean as a major influence on their careers.

In a BBC documentary, Steven Spielberg recounted how Lean (by then a personal friend) asked him to approach Warner Brothers on his behalf to persuade them to finance his film of Joseph Conrad's novel Nostromo. Spielberg did this and Warner's studio chief, who was also a personal friend of Spielberg's, agreed to fund the movie on a $20m budget. When Spielberg called Lean to give him the good news, Lean told him it wasn't enough and to go back and ask for $30m. A shocked Spielberg did so, but Warners refused to increase the budget. Lean never spoke to Spielberg again.

According to Richard Schickel, Lean was so wounded by Pauline Kael's and other critics' vicious attacks on Ryan's Daughter (1970) that he didn't direct another picture for 14 years, until A Passage to India (1984).

Before his death in 1991, Lean's only child Peter, and Peter's daughter, tried to reconcile with him on a visit to his home in France, but the attempt ended in anger, and they never spoke again. David Lean had left his first wife when Peter was young, just as Lean's own accountant father had left when David was 16.

Peter O'Toole based his performance in The Stunt Man (1980) on Lean.

On the whole, actors who worked for David Lean regarded him as a cold, calculating man who delighted in creating tension on a film set.

He has directed two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

Directed 11 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Celia Johnson, Katharine Hepburn, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa, Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, John Mills, Sarah Miles, Peggy Ashcroft and Judy Davis. Guiness, Mills and Ashcroft won for their performances in one of Lean's movies.

In 'Doctor Zhivago' he's reflected in the glass door of a trolley as Yuri gets off.

From 1986 until his death in 1991, he was working on an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel Nostromo. Serge Silberman was producing in conjunction with Columbia Pictures and Lean had written the screenplay initially with Christopher Hampton and then with Robert Bolt. The film was budgeted at $46m and shooting was to have started in March 1991, in Almería and Les Studios de la Victorine in Nice. Dennis Quaid, Isabella Rossellini, Julian Sands, Paul Scofield, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Irene Papas, Anthony Quinn and Christopher Lambert were to have starred, with cinematographer Alex Thomson and production designer John Box also in place. The score was to have been composed by Maurice Jarre. The budget also contained provision for a replacement director (Guy Hamilton) to take over should Lean die or his health deteriorate during the shoot. Lean was diagnosed with throat cancer in January 1991 and shooting was postponed from March until May. Lean died in April 1991, before filming could commence.

Both Lean's first wife, Isabel Lean (born 1908) and his third, actress Ann Todd, were his first cousins.

He was married six times and at all times briefly, apparently having been unable to maintain a marriage due to his wandering eye. He also declined to discuss his personal life.

According to Sarah Miles, Lean enjoyed pushing his actors to their personal limits and then breaking them, just for his own amusement.

He has directed six films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: In Which We Serve (1942), Great Expectations (1946), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and A Passage to India (1984). The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia won in the category.

His third wife, actress Ann Todd, was previously married to his second cousin, Nigel Tangye.

He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Towards the end of his life, he said he would like to have another go at filming Boris Pasternak's "Doctor Zhivago". The prerequisite for remaking the film would be the casting of Julie Christie once again as Lara, but since she would be too old for the role, he wouldn't be able to do it.

Was voted the 34th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

He was honoured with the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award (1990).

Amongst all the top directors Billy Wilder had the most Oscar nominations with 8, Fred Zinneman 7, Frank Capra 6, David Lean 6, Clarence Brown 5, John Ford 5, King Vidor 5, George Stevens 5, Alfred Hitchcock 5, George Cukor 5.

In his home town of Croydon, South London, there is a cinema named after him in the Croydon Clocktower Arts Centre.

He loved being behind the camera and setting up the scenes.

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Coronation Honours List of 1953 for his contributions and services to the arts.

Frequently worked with Alec Guinness. When he recommended that Steven Spielberg direct Empire of the Sun (1987), Spielberg ended up hiring Eve Mavrakis as a translator. Fittingly, Mavrakis would go on to marry Ewan McGregor, who succeeded Guinness in the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

In May 1988 he was given the Cannes Action Committee Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Film Industry.

He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1984 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his contributions and services to the arts.

Expressed an interest in making a film version of the BBC Light Programme's "Journey into Space" SF radio serial (1955).

His younger brother was author and original founder of the Inklings literary club in Oxford (Edward) Tangye Lean, and he his uncle of his children John Tangye Lean and Lucy Lean.

He was going to direct The Bounty about 1977 but wanted Anthony Hopkins to be Bligh plus the script was 4 1/2 hours long.

Second cousin of Nigel Tangye and Derek Tangye (they shared a great-grandfather).

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 633-639. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1987).

He spent 5 years working on Mutiny on the Bounty before the producer took it from him.

The one film he made money from was Dr Zhivago as he had a share in it.

The one film he made money from was Ryans Daughter as he had a share in it having spent 3 years writing it and setting it up and it went on to win 11 Oscar nominations including screenplay, editing, director and best picture.