{{Short description|British film director (1901–1964)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Anthony Martin Kimmins | honorific_suffix = {{postnom|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} | image = Anthony_Kimmins.jpg | imagesize = | alt = | caption = Photo by Anthony Buckley | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|11|10|df=yes}} | birth_place = Harrow, London, England | death_date = 19 May 1964 (aged 62) | death_place = Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, England | occupation = Film director/producer, playwright, screenwriter, actor}} '''Anthony Martin Kimmins''', OBE (10 November 1901 – 19 May 1964) was an English director, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and actor.
==Biography== Kimmins was born in Harrow, London, on 10 November 1901, the son of the social activists Charles William Kimmins and Grace Kimmins. He served in the Royal Navy, and upon leaving the navy, he became an actor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/anthony-kimmins-p97416|title=Anthony Kimmins - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos|website=AllMovie}}</ref> In 1932, he wrote the comedy play ''While Parents Sleep'', which had a long run in the West End.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2mYAwAAQBAJ&q=while+parents+sleep+london+stage+1930-1939&pg=PA282|title=The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|first=J. P.|last=Wearing|date=15 May 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780810893047|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1935, another of his plays ''Chase the Ace'' was staged.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2mYAwAAQBAJ&q=chase+the+ace+london+stage+1930-1939&pg=PA442|title=The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel|first=J. P.|last=Wearing|date=15 May 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780810893047|via=Google Books}}</ref>
His first directorial assignment was ''Keep Fit'' (1937) with George Formby.<ref name="mcfarlane">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lXnXDQAAQBAJ&q=anthony+kimmins+%22The+Encyclopedia+of+British+Film%3A+Fourth+edition&pg=PA418|title=The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition|first=Brian|last=McFarlane|date=16 May 2016|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=9781526111975|via=Google Books}}</ref> Michael Balcon called Kimmins "a gay and stimulating character, very much beloved by the studio staff and with an exceptional capacity for getting on with people, which was just as well, for Formby was not easy. Two men could hardly have been more unlike, but Tony managed to establish a working relationship."<ref name="michael">{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Balcon|title= Michael Balcon presents ... a lifetime of films|year=1969 |publisher=Hutchinson|page=122}}</ref>
During World War II, he returned to the Navym achieving the rank of commander. In 1941, he took part in Operation Claymore, a successful commando raid in Norway. During the success of the raid, Kimmins is said to have gone skiing on a nearby slope out of boredom, according to John Durnford-Slater. He later ran the British Pacific Fleet newspaper in Sydney during the Pacific War.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76029871|title=Former RAAF Flier in Films and Radio|newspaper=The Mirror|location=Perth, WA|date=31 May 1947|accessdate=7 July 2012|page=15|publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Kimmins received the OBE in 1946.<ref name="mcfarlane"/>
After the war, he produced an eclectic mix of films, such as the psychological thriller ''Mine Own Executioner'' (1947), ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' (1948), and ''Mr. Denning Drives North'' (1951).<ref name="bfi">{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f3af423|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180819025614/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f3af423|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 August 2018|title=Anthony Kimmins|website=BFI}}</ref> In the 1950s, Kimmins work included the <!-- Not knighted until 1959 -->Alec Guinness comedy ''The Captain's Paradise'' (1953) and the children's ''Smiley'' series of films which were made in Australia.<ref name="ink">{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/the-brief-movie-stardom-of-colin-smiley-petersen/|magazine=Filmink|date=26 November 2024|access-date=26 November 2024|title=The Brief Movie Stardom of Colin (Smiley) Petersen}}</ref>
His final film as director harked back to his early days – it was a version of his stage success''The Amorous Prawn'' (US: ''The Playgirl and the War Minister'', 1962).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anthony-kimmins/credits/140374|title=Anthony Kimmins - TV Guide|website=TVGuide.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/1961/film/reviews/the-amorous-prawn-1200420086/|title=The Amorous Prawn|work=Variety|date=1 January 1962|publisher=}}</ref>
He was the subject of ''This Is Your Life'' in 1961, when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the BBC Television Theatre.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} His son, Simon Kimmins, played first-class cricket in the 1950s, primarily for Kent County Cricket Club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/16023.html|title=Simon Kimmins|website=Cricinfo}}</ref>
He died in 1964, at his home in Hurstpierpoint in West Sussex, at the age of 62.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/20/archives/anthony-kimmins-playwright-dies-film-producer-and-wartime.html|title=ANTHONY KIMMINS, PLAYWRIGHT, DIES; Film Producer and Wartime Broadcaster Was 62|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 May 1964|publisher=}}</ref>
==Credits==
{{Empty section|date=March 2021}}
==Filmography== thumb|Still from the 1943 stage production of ''While Parents Sleep'' * ''Two Wives for Henry'' (1933) – writer * ''The Golden Cage'' (1933) – writer (uncredited) * ''The Night Club Queen'' (1934) – play * ''Bypass to Happiness'' (1934) – writer, director * ''The Diplomatic Lover'' (1934) aka ''How's Chances?'' – writer, director * ''Midshipman Easy'' (1935) – writer * ''Once in a New Moon'' (1935) – writer, director * ''While Parents Sleep'' (1935) – writer, play * ''All at Sea'' (1935) – writer, director * ''His Majesty and Company'' (1935) – director * ''Talk of the Devil'' (1936) – writer * ''Queen of Hearts'' (1936) – writer * ''Scotland Yard Commands'' (1936) * ''Laburnum Grove'' (1936) – writer * ''Three Maxims'' (1936) – director *''Talk of the Devil'' (1936) – writer * ''Keep Your Seats, Please'' (1936) – writer *''Lonely Road'' (US: ''Scotland Yard Commands'', 1936) – writer * ''The Show Goes On'' (1937) – writer *''Parisian Life'' (1936) – writer *''Who's Your Lady Friend?'' (1937) – writer * ''Feather Your Nest'' (1937) – writer *''Good Morning, Boys'' (1937) – writer *''Keep Fit'' (1937) – writer, director * ''I See Ice'' (1938) – writer, director *''George Takes the Air'' (1938) aka ''It's in the Air'' – writer, director * ''Trouble Brewing'' (1939) – writer, director * ''Come on George'' (1939) – writer, director * ''Under Your Hat'' (1940) – writer *''Narcisse'' (1940) – writer * ''Mine Own Executioner'' (1947) – director, producer * ''Bonnie Prince Charlie'' (1948) – director * ''Mr. Denning Drives North'' (1951) – director, producer * ''Flesh and Blood'' (1951) – director * ''The Passionate Sentry'' (1952) – director, producer * ''The Captain's Paradise'' (1953) – director, producer *''Top of the Form'' (1953) – writer * ''Aunt Clara'' (1954) – director, producer * ''Smiley'' (1956) – director, writer, producer *"While Parents Sleep" episode of ''Armchair Theatre'' (1957) – writer * ''Smiley Gets a Gun'' (1958) – director, writer, producer * ''The Amorous Prawn'' (US: ''The Playgirl and the War Minister'', 1962) – director, writer (and original play)
===Select theatre credits=== *'' While Parents Sleep'' (1932)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/filmography.html?p_id=97416 Profile], nytimes.com; accessed July 4, 2015 * {{IMDb name|id=0454028}} * {{IBDB name|4201}}
{{Authority control}} {{Anthony Kimmins}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kimmins, Anthony}} Category:1901 births Category:1964 deaths Category:Royal Navy officers Category:English film directors Category:British comedy film directors Category:English male screenwriters Category:English male dramatists and playwrights Category:Actors from the London Borough of Harrow Category:Male actors from London Category:Writers from the London Borough of Harrow Category:20th-century English screenwriters Category:20th-century English male writers Category:Royal Navy officers of World War II Category:Military personnel from the London Borough of Harrow Category:People from Harrow, London Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire