Don Sharp(1921-2011)
- Director
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Don Sharp was born on the island of Tasmania off of Australia, and
began his show-business career there as an actor. After World War II he
traveled to England and continued his acting carer. He became a
director in the mid-1950s and turned out some low- and medium-budget
musicals, such as the Tommy Steele vehicle
The Dream Maker (1963). In
the mid-1960s he was hired by horror specialist Hammer Films and turned
out some well-received thrillers, including
The Kiss of the Vampire (1963),
his first for Hammer. He worked on a few films as second-unit director,
most notably
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965),
before returning to directing again, and turned out a string of
thrillers, horror films and comedies. Towards the end of his career he
worked in television on mini-series.