Michael Deeley is an Academy Award-winning British film producer known for such motion pictures as The Italian Job, The Deer Hunter, and Blade Runner. He is also a founding member and Honorary President of The British Screen Advisory Council.
Biography
Deeley's father was a director at McCann Erickson advertising agency, and his mother was a PA to several film producers. He attended Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. After national service in Malaysia during the time of the Malayan Emergency, Deeley gained a job through his mother's connections as an assistant editor at a company run by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. While editing the TV showThe Adventures of Robin Hood, with his editing partner Harry Booth, the two men decided to branch into a producing partnership. They raised funds to produce a 26-minute short starring Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn. This launched Deeley's producing career, although he did not give up his day job as editor for a few years. In the early 1960s, Deeley worked for the UK sales arm of MCA Universal for three years, then he returned to producing with Sandy the Reluctant Nudist and One Way Pendulum. The latter was made for Woodfall Film Productions who hired Deeley in 1964 to assist Oscar Lewenstein, a director of the company. Deeley produced Robbery, which began a partnership with Stanley Baker to make films through Oakhurst Productions. Along with Baker and Barry Spikings, Deeley also established a series of companies all called "Great Western" which did a variety of activities, including music festivals, and investments. Great Western Investments later took over British Lion Films in 1973, and Deeley was appointed managing director of that company. While at British Lion, Deeley oversaw the release of Don't Look Now and The Wicker Man, and helped finance The Internecine Project, Who?, Ransom and Conduct Unbecoming. He also produced The Man Who Fell to Earth. In 1976, after British Lion merged with EMI Films, Deeley and Spikings took over management of that company. They oversaw a series of mostly successful films including Convoy, The Driver, Death on the Nile, Warlords of Atlantis and The Deer Hunter. Deeley left the company in 1979 and produced Blade Runner. In 1984 Deeley was appointed CEO of Consolidated, a TV company seeking to further expand into US network television.
Selected filmography
The Adventures of Robin Hood – editor
The Case of the Mukkinese Battle Horn – producer
At the Stroke of Nine – producer, writer
The Buccaneers – editor
OSS – editor
Tremor – producer
Crosstrap
Sandy the Reluctant Nudist
One Way Pendulum
The Knack...and How to Get It – executive producer
