Boulting brothers

John and Roy Boulting
Roy (left) and John (right) Boulting, 1952
Born	John Edward Boulting (1913-11-21)21 November 1913 Bray, Berkshire, England Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (1913-11-21)21 November 1913 Bray, Berkshire, England
Died	17 June 1985(1985-06-17) (aged 71) Sunningdale, Berkshire, England 5 November 2001(2001-11-05) (aged 87) Eynsham, Oxfordshire, England
Spouse(s)	Anne Boulting (?–1985) Angelina Warnock (1936–1941) Jean Capon (1942–1951) Enid Munnik (1951–1968) Hayley Mills (1971–1976) Sandra Spencer (1978–1984)

John Edward Boulting (21 November 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 November 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for their popular series of satirical comedies in the 1950s and 1960s.

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.

Filmography

John

• Journey Together (1945)
• Brighton Rock (1947)
• Seven Days to Noon (1950)
• The Magic Box (1951)
• Private's Progress (1956)
• Lucky Jim (1957)
• I'm All Right Jack (1959)
• Heavens Above! (1963)
• Rotten to the Core (1965)
• The Number (1979)

Roy

• Inquest (1940)
• Thunder Rock (1942)
• Tunisian Victory (1944, documentary co-directed with Frank Capra)
• Fame is the Spur (1947)
• The Guinea Pig (1948)
• Singlehanded (1951)
• High Treason (1951)
• Sailor of the King (1953)
• Seagulls Over Sorrento (1954)
• Josephine and Men (1955)
• Run for the Sun (1956)
• Happy is the Bride (1958)
• Brothers in Law (1957)
• Carlton-Browne of the FO (1959)
• Suspect (1960)
• A French Mistress (1960)
• The Family Way (1966)
• Twisted Nerve (1968)
• There's a Girl in My Soup (1970)
• Mr. Forbush and the Penguins (1971)
• Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1973)

References

• Burton Alan, O'Sullivan Tim, Wells Paul; Eds. 2000. The Family Way: The Boulting Brothers and British Film Culture. Trowbridge: Flicks Books. ISBN 0-948911-59-X

External links

• John Boulting at the Internet Movie Database
• Roy Boulting at the Internet Movie Database