Anthony Page

Born in India to British parents, Anthony Page attended Oxford University, where he received his first taste of acting and directing in student productions. Page headed to New York, where he studied under Sanford Meisner and the Neighborhood Playhouse. His first professional engagement was as a production assistant at Britain's Royal Court theatre in 1958; six years later, he became the Royal Court's artistic director. After extensive London and repertory work, Page directed his first Broadway production, Inadmissible Evidence, in 1965. This play served as his film directorial debut in 1968. Of his theatrical films, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) is arguably the best, while his 1979 remake of Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes was indisputably his weakest. Some of Page's finest work was concentrated on the small screen, beginning with his impressionistic "live-on-tape" productions Pueblo (1973) and The Missiles of October (1974). A recognized master in the field of TV biopics, Page helmed both of the Bill movies starring Mickey Rooney, and also FDR: The Last Year (1980), The Patricia Neal Story (1981) and Grace Kelly (1983). Anthony Page's credits have sometimes been confused with those of African American actor Antony Page (Prince of the City, etc.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide