David Ian Gill (9 June 1928 – 28 September 1997) was a British film historian, preservationist and documentarian who documented the history of motion pictures and helped restore many early, silent films.
He was born in Papua New Guinea, the son of Cecil Gill, a missionary doctor. His uncle was the sculptorEric Gill. The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School, Hereford.
Gill died at his home in Huntingdon, England, aged 69, after a heart attack. He was survived by his wife, Pauline, and two daughters.
Gill trained as a dancer and joined Britain's Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet in 1946, appearing in The Sleeping Princess, which opened in Covent Garden that year. In 1953, he married dancer Pauline Wadsworth, who later taught at The Royal Ballet School.
Gill left ballet in 1955 to work in television, producing his mime play, The Way of the Cross, for the BBC before joining Associated-Rediffusion as an editor. As a result of that year's franchise changes, he moved to Thames Television in 1968, working mainly on news and documentaries for, amongst others, the Today and This Week programmes.
Gill's unexpected death, in September 1997, came as he was planning a series of archival films on dance and working on Nosferatu (1922), the 1997 entry in the Channel 4 Silents series, which was to take place at the Royal Festival Hall later in the year.
Hollywood, David Gill's and Kevin Brownlow's documentary Hollywood, made in 1980 for Thames Television was shown as a 13-part series on PBS TV stations in the United States.
The Unknown Chaplin, Gill produced a subsequent three-part series, Unknown Chaplin, with Kevin Brownlow.
Till I End My Song, a documentary on the River Thames, was nominated for Emmy and British film awards in 1968.
Unknown Chaplin 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Films in Review
January 01, 1970
david, gill, film, historian, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, january, 2020,. This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations January 2020 Learn how and when to remove this message David Ian Gill 9 June 1928 28 September 1997 was a British film historian preservationist and documentarian who documented the history of motion pictures and helped restore many early silent films He was born in Papua New Guinea the son of Cecil Gill a missionary doctor His uncle was the sculptor Eric Gill The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School Hereford Gill died at his home in Huntingdon England aged 69 after a heart attack He was survived by his wife Pauline and two daughters Contents 1 Career 2 Filmography 2 1 Documentaries 3 Articles 4 References 5 External linksCareer editGill trained as a dancer and joined Britain s Sadler s Wells Theatre Ballet in 1946 appearing in The Sleeping Princess which opened in Covent Garden that year In 1953 he married dancer Pauline Wadsworth who later taught at The Royal Ballet School Gill left ballet in 1955 to work in television producing his mime play The Way of the Cross for the BBC before joining Associated Rediffusion as an editor As a result of that year s franchise changes he moved to Thames Television in 1968 working mainly on news and documentaries for amongst others the Today and This Week programmes Whilst at Thames he met film historian Kevin Brownlow with whom he was to form Photoplay Productions and work as co director and producer on several silent film related projects These included the Hollywood 1980 series and a restoration of Abel Gance s epic Napoleon which was performed in 1980 at the Empire Leicester Square Brownlow and Gill formed their own company Photoplay Productions in 1990 in order to continue their restoration work and documentaries on silent cinema Among the 25 films they restored are Ben Hur A Tale of the Christ The Phantom of the Opera The Thief of Bagdad and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Gill s unexpected death in September 1997 came as he was planning a series of archival films on dance and working on Nosferatu 1922 the 1997 entry in the Channel 4 Silents series which was to take place at the Royal Festival Hall later in the year Filmography editD W Griffith s The Birth of a Nation restoration Charlie Chaplin s The Gold Rush restoration Harold Lloyd The Third Genius TV documentary 1989 Cinema Europe The Other Hollywood TV series 1995 co producer D W Griffith Father of Film 1993 producer American Masters producer 1 episode 1989 Buster Keaton A Hard Act to Follow 1987 TV producer The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg 1927 producer 1986 alternate version Unknown Chaplin 1983 TV series co producer Hollywood TV series 1980 co producer The Wind 1928 producer restored version The Blot 1921 producer restored version Documentaries edit Hollywood David Gill s and Kevin Brownlow s documentary Hollywood made in 1980 for Thames Television was shown as a 13 part series on PBS TV stations in the United States The Unknown Chaplin Gill produced a subsequent three part series Unknown Chaplin with Kevin Brownlow Till I End My Song a documentary on the River Thames was nominated for Emmy and British film awards in 1968 His documentaries on Vietnam South Africa and Northern Ireland were broadcast on the British series This Week Articles editDavid Gill The Birth of a Nation Orphan or Pariah Griffithiana no 60 61 October 1997 pp 17 29 film restoration References editAlexander Max 12 November 1989 To the Rescue of America s Silent Films The New York Times David Gill 69 Dies A Restorer of Films from the Silent Era The New York Times 12 October 1997 Obituary PDF The Independent 2 October 1997 Archived from the original PDF on 31 October 2008 Obituary PDF The Daily Telegraph 4 October 1997 Archived from the original PDF on 31 October 2008 Obituary PDF The Guardian 2 October 1997 Archived from the original PDF on 31 October 2008 External links editDavid Gill at IMDb Photoplay Productions Film Database CITWF David Gill Film Listing Moviemail Hollywood reviews IMDB The Unknown Hollywood educational archive History Today Silent Film Sources November 1997 at the Wayback Machine Unknown Chaplin Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Films in Review Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title David Gill film historian amp oldid 1196552278, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
