Apted, Michael David, 1941-2021,
British filmmaker, b. Aylesbury, Bucks, England. Apted began his career as a documentary
filmmaker, beginning with the television program, Seven Up!, documenting a
group of 14 British children representing different classes in British society. The series
continued with follow-ups at seven-year intervals, ending with 2019’s 63
Up. The series was awarded a Peabody Award in 2012. He made his first feature film
in 1972, gaining initial success for his films Agatha (1979) and Coal
Miner's Daughter (1980; selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress’
National Film Registry, 2019); he later directed Gorky Park (1983),
Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Thunderheart (1992), and
The World Is Not Enough (1999) from the James Bond franchise. He served as
President of the Directors Guild of America from 2003-2009.
See study by R. Eichenbaum (2014).
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