David Lean

Biography

Sir David Lean CBE (25 March 1908 – 16 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, he is best remembered for adapting the works of Charles Dickens and Noël Coward, and for his large scale period epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984). Acclaimed and praised by directors such as Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, Lean was voted 9th greatest film director of all time in the British Film Institute Sight & Sound "Directors Top Directors" poll 2002. Nominated seven times for the Academy Award for Best Director, winning twice for The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, he has seven films in the British Film Institute's Top 100 British Films (with three of them being in the top five).

Known For

The Dick Cavett Show

The Oscars

Omnibus

The South Bank Show

Lawrence of Arabia

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

Reflets de Cannes

Talking Pictures

All Movies (20)

• Maverick: The Epic Adventures of David Lean2026 · as Self (archive footage)
• Omar Sharif: Citizen of the World2020 · as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
• E. M. Forster: His Longest Journey2019 · as Self (archive footage)
• Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast2019 · as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
• Nostromo: David Lean's Impossible Dream2017 · as Self (archive footage)
• Doctor Zhivago: A Celebration2010 · as Self (Archive Footage)
• The Making of Lawrence of Arabia2001 · as Self (archive footage)
• The Golden Gong: The Story of Rank Films - British Cinema's Legendary Studio1985 · as Self
• David Lean: A Life in Film1985 · as Self
• Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's Anchor1979 · as himself
• David Lean: A Self Portrait1971 · as Self
• Ryan's Daughter Featurette1970 · as Self
• Pasternak1965 · as Self (archive footage)
• Moscow in Madrid1965 · as Self
• Zhivago: Behind the Camera with David Lean1965 · as Self
• David Lean's Film of Doctor Zhivago1965 · as Self
• Wind Sand and Star1963
• Lawrence of Arabia1962 · as Motorcyclist by Suez Canal (uncredited)
• The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant1958 · as Self
• ...On Seeing Film1958 · as Self

All TV Shows (7)

• Talking Pictures2013 · as Self (archive footage)
• The South Bank Show1978 · as Self
• The American Film Institute Salute to ...1973 · as Self
• The Dick Cavett Show1968 · as Self - Guest
• Omnibus1967 · as Self
• Reflets de Cannes1954 · as Self
• The Oscars1953 · as Self