Boulting Brothers - Biography

Biography

The twin brothers were born in Bray, Berkshire, England, on 21 November 1913, to Arthur Boulting and Rose Bennet. They worked together as producer and director whenever they could, and often alternated these duties depending on the nature of the film they were working on, although they also made films separately. The two worked as screenwriters on their own films.

They began with serious, tight, economical drama films such as Seven Days to Noon (1950) and Graham Greene's Brighton Rock (1947), both with Roy producing and John directing. They then became known for a series of satirical comedy films, such as Private's Progress (1956), Lucky Jim (1957) and I'm All Right Jack (1959). John Boulting contributed as co-writer for the films. The Boultings used the same actors in a lot of their films, including Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough, Terry-Thomas, Dennis Price, John Le Mesurier, Irene Handl and Miles Malleson.

I'm All Right Jack featured Peter Sellers and as a result, boosted his film career, winning him a BAFTA Best Actor Award. Sellers later appeared The Family Way (1966) about a young married couple and their down-to-earth family. In the 1980s, Roy Boulting directed the Miss Marple mysteries for the BBC.

In 1971, Roy married Hayley Mills whom he met on the set of The Family Way, and they had a son, Crispian Mills. They divorced in 1977.

John died on 17 June 1985 in Sunningdale, Berkshire, and Roy on 5 November 2001.

Their elder brother Sydney Boulting became an actor and stage producer as Peter Cotes; he was the original director of The Mousetrap.

John's grandson is Jordan Stephens of the hip hop duo Rizzle Kicks.