Graeme Harper - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Born in London, Harper began elocution lessons at the Italia Conti Academy as a child in 1955, at the encouragement of his mother who was worried that he was developing a cockney accent. This led to him being cast as Master Bardell in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel The Pickwick Papers for the independent television company Associated-Rediffusion, when the company approached the Academy asking if they had a boy with bright red hair for the role, and they recommended Harper.

Further television work followed in the late 1950s, appearing in children's serials for BBC Television under producer / director Shaun Sutton. From the ages of sixteen to twenty-one Harper worked predominantly in the theatre, not only as an actor but also as a stage manager. After further television work, however, he decided that acting was not the career he would like, and he would instead rather be behind the scenes. One of his main ambitions for becoming involved in the production side of the industry was to make Westerns.

While applying for production jobs in television, he worked for a time as a driving instructor. One of his pupils was the personal secretary of film director Stanley Kubrick, who arranged for him to visit the sound stages at MGM-British Studios where Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey was then being produced. During this visit, Harper briefly met Kubrick.