LONDON (UK) – British filmmaker Michael Apted, who is credited with the “Up” documentaries chronicling the lives of a group of children in the UK for more than 50 years died at 79, said his US agent on Friday.
He also directed Hollywood flicks ranging from the 1999 James Bond hit “The World is Not Enough” to “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, which is the biopic of country singer Loretta Lynn, as well as dozens of TV shows, including episodes of “Coronation Street” in 1967.
Apted died at his home in Los Angeles on Thursday, said his agent Roy Ashton. No details of his death were available.
Apted’s most notable project was the “Up” series. It began in 1964 as a television documentary about the hopes and dreams of 14 7-year-old children from diverse backgrounds who Apted revisited every seven years to see how their lives had changed.
The series, which won multiple awards over the years, was inspired by the saying “Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man.” The most recent, “63 Up,” was released in 2019.
The Academy of Motion Pictures said on Friday that Apted “will always be remembered for the groundbreaking documentary “Up” series.
Apted was born in Britain, attended Cambridge University and started his career as a researcher at Britain’s Granada Television, where the idea for the first “Up” documentary was born.
In later life, he moved to Los Angeles and directed dozens of movies, including “Gorillas in the Mist,” thriller “Gorky Park,” “Thunder Heart” and “Enigma.” He served as president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) from 2003-2009.