Joseph McGrath (film director)

Joseph McGrath (born 1930, Glasgow) is a Scottish film and television director and screenwriter. He studied at Glasgow School of Art in the late 1940s/early 1950s where his energy and talent was much admired by his contemporaries.

McGrath is best known for his collaborations with The Goon Show stars Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. He directed the scenes with Sellers and Orson Welles in the multi-director James bond spoof Casino Royale (1967). He also directed Sellers and Spike Milligan in The Magic Christian (1969) and The Great McGonagall (1974).^[1][2]

In the 2004 film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Alan Williams plays the unnamed director of Casino Royale, whom Sellers (played by Geoffrey Rush) calls 'Joe'.

Filmography

• Justin Thyme (1964) (TV)
• Casino Royale (1967)
• 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1968)
• The Goon Show (1968) (TV)
• The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968)
• The Magic Christian (1969)
• Digby, the Biggest Dog in the World (1973)
• The Great McGonagall (1974)
• Girls Come First (1975)
• I'm Not Feeling Myself Tonight (1976)
• The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It (1977)
• The Losers (1978) (TV series)
• Rising Damp (1980)
• Night Train to Murder (TV 1983)

References

1. Lewis, Roger (1995). The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. London: Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-974700-6. 1108 pp. Published in the U.S. via Applause Books This comprehensive biography contains multiple reference to Milligan and McGrath.
2. Ventham, Maxine (2002). "Joe McGrath". In ... Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives. London: Robson. pp. 86–91. ISBN 1-86105-530-7.

External links

• Joseph McGrath at the Internet Movie Database