John Irvin is a renowned British director with a career spanning over thirty motion pictures. Born in England, he began his career working for British Movietone News and directed his first film, "Gala Day," a documentary financed by the British Film Institute, which was bought by the BBC.
Throughout the 1960s, Irvin made numerous award-winning documentaries for his own company Mithras Films, the BBC, and ITV, including the Omnibus film "Beautiful, Beautiful" (1969) about war photographers, featuring Don McCullen, Larry Burrows, and Eugene Smith shot in Vietnam and New York.
In the 1970s, Irvin transitioned to television drama, directing the pilot for the BAFTA award-winning series "Explorers" and the multi-award-winning TV dramas "The Nearly Man" and "Hard Times" for Granada TV, as well as the hugely successful "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" for the BBC starring Alec Guinness.
Irvin then began making feature films, including "Dogs Of War" (1980) starring Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger, "Ghost Story" (1981) starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and John Houseman, and "Champions" (1984) starring John Hurt.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Irvin continued to direct feature films, including "Turtle Diary" (1985) starring Ben Kingsley, Glenda Jackson, and Michael Gambon, "Raw Deal" (1986) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Hamburger Hill" (1987) starring Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermott, Michael Boatman, Steven Weber, and Courtney B. Vance, "Next Of Kin" (1989) starring Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson, and "Eminent Domain" (1991) starring Donald Sutherland and Anne Archer.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Irvin directed films such as "Robin Hood" (1991) starring Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, "Widows Peak" (1993) starring Mia Farrow, Joan Plowright, Natasha Richardson, Jim Broadbent, and Adrian Dunbar, "A Month By The Lake" (1994) starring Vanessa Redgrave, Edward Fox, and Uma Thurman, and "Shiner" (2000) starring Michael Caine.
More recently, Irvin has been making indie pictures in Europe, including "The Boys and Girl from County Clare" (2003) starring Andrea Corr and Colm Meaney, "The Moon And The Stars" (2006) starring Alfred Molina, Catherine McCormack, and Jonathan Pryce.
Irvin is currently co-founder with producer Claire Evans of DearHeart Productions, and their first feature, "Mandela's' Gun," is due for release in the autumn of 2018.
