Jimmy Sangster, U.K. Horror Writer-Director and U.S. Television Fixture
After helping to define the oeuvre of the British production company Hammer Studios, Sangster became a prolific figure in American TV of the 1970s and ’80s.
Jimmy Sangster, a British writer and director who helped to shape the classic U.K. horror studio Hammer Films and later worked extensively in American television, died August 19, 2011. He was 83.
No cause was announced at the time of his death.
Sangster was a key figure in defining the oeuvre of Hammer Films, the British production entity that released a series of noteworthy horror movies in the 1950s and ’60s. In a departure from the monster movies from the U.S., the Hammer films, many of which starred Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, brought a humanity and even sexuality to the genre.
Sangster’s best known contributions included The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula and The Mummy.
Born December 2, 1927, in North Wales, he began his show business career at age 16, when he became a production assistant and projectionist in London. He later advanced to film magazine loader and clapper operator.
After military service in the Royal Air Force, stationed in India, he returned to Britain and advanced to work as an assistant director on a low-budget film that led to a position with Exclusive Studios, which later became Hammer Studios. There, he was encouraged to try writing.
The result was X: The Unknown, a science-fiction film that led to his breakthrough, The Curse of Frankenstein, which he approached with the goal of focusing on the creator, Dr. Frankenstein, rather than the monster.
He followed it with The Horror of Dracula, The Revenge of Frankenstein and The Mummy for Hammer. Because he was not exclusive to the company, he also wrote Blood of the Vampire and The Crawling Eye for competing studios.
Sangster also wrote well-regarded psychological thrillers, including The Scream of Fear and Paranoiac.
In addition, he directed some of his films, such as The Horror of Frankenstein and Lust for a Vampire.
Sangster worked in television early in his career, earning writing credits on the British series Motive for Murder in 1957 and the made-for-television movie The Assassin.
In the 1970s, he began to spend more time in Los Angeles, where he worked regularly in episodic television. He began with the suspense anthology Circle of Fear, starring Sebastian Cabot, and went on to write episodes of The Magician, The Six Million Dollar Man, McCloud, Ironside and many series.
He also directed episodes of Cannon, Bancek and Faraday and Company.
Sangster's autobiography, Do You Want It Good or Tuesday?, was published in the United States in 2009; he also wrote several novels.
Survivors include his wife, actress Mary Peach, and a son.