23 Facts About Michael Apted

Michael Apted later directed Coal Miner's Daughter, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Michael Apted was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

Michael Apted was born on 10 February 1941 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the son of Frances Amelia and Ronald William Michael Apted.

Michael Apted was educated at City of London School and Downing College, Cambridge, where he studied law and history.

Michael Apted began his career in television as a trainee for six months at Granada Television in Manchester, where he worked as a researcher.

When it was suggested that they revisit the subjects at ages fourteen and twenty one, Michael Apted accepted the offer to direct and directed every subsequent episode in the series.

In 1976 Michael Apted directed a play in the Granada TV series Laurence Olivier Presents.

Michael Apted used his idea from the Up series a second time in Married in America and Married in America 2.

Michael Apted made his first feature film in 1972, The Triple Echo, starring Oliver Reed and Glenda Jackson, and he directed two films for David Puttnam.

Michael Apted alternated this work with working on the TV series Play for Today.

Michael Apted directed six plays including Stronger than the Sun, written by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Francesca Annis as a young woman who places her life in danger to expose a crime, a theme Apted returned to several times.

Michael Apted went to the United States in 1980, where he directed Coal Miner's Daughter, which received seven Academy Award nominations, winning best actress for Sissy Spacek.

Michael Apted made several films with a strong social message or that deal with an ethical dilemma.

In 1999, Michael Apted directed the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.

Michael Apted directed the documentary The Long Way Home, which was released in 1989.

In 2006, Michael Apted co-directed The Official Film of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

In 1977, Michael Apted directed the premiere of Strawberry Fields at the National Theatre in London.

Michael Apted served as president of the Directors Guild of America from 2003 to 2009 and served as the secretary-treasurer from 2011 to his death.

Paul Michael Apted was a sound editor who worked on movies such as The Wolverine; he died from colon cancer in 2014.

Michael Apted was married to screenwriter Dana Stevens for 10 years, before they divorced.

In 2007 Michael Apted became a father for the fourth time, to a girl, who lives with her mother Tania Mellis.

Michael Apted married Paige Simpson, his third wife, in January 2014.

Michael Apted died at his home in Los Angeles on 7 January 2021, at the age of 79.