James Cellan Jones

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Alan James Gwynne Cellan Jones (born 13 July 1931) is a British television and film director. Since 1963, he has directed over 50 diverse television series and films, specializing in dramas. Particularly associated with the "Classic Serial" during the golden age of BBC drama,[1] some of his most notable work has been in televising late 19th-century and 20th-century British literary works. Two of his most ambitious and successful directorial adaptations are the miniseries The Forsyte Saga (1967) and Fortunes of War (1987).

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Life and career[edit]

James Cellan Jones was born in 1931 in Swansea, Wales. Born into a family of doctors,[1] he studied natural sciences at St John's College, Cambridge University, where he received his BA in 1952. He later received an MA in 1978.[2]

Cellan Jones's true interest was acting and directing, however,[1] and he began working at BBC Television in 1955 as a callboy, and rose steadily to become a production manager. In 1960 he began directing for the BBC, and by 1965 was directing several major productions a year there. In 1967 he directed the award-winning miniseries adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, and his other period dramas have included numerous adaptations of works by Henry James and George Bernard Shaw.

From 1976 through 1979 Cellan Jones was Head of Plays at the BBC. Upon leaving the post, he became a freelance television director, and continued to work steadily for 20 years.

Awards and nominations[edit]

As director, Cellan Jones won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series for 1975 for the miniseries Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill, and he was nominated the next year for the same award for The Adams Chronicles. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for directing Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill.

Cellan Jones has received seven BAFTA TV nominations, for Roads to Freedom (miniseries, 1970), Eyeless in Gaza (miniseries, 1971), Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (miniseries, 1974), A Fine Romance (series, 1981, 1982), Oxbridge Blues (anthology, eponymous episode, 1984), and Fortunes of War (miniseries, 1987).[3]

Personal life[edit]

Cellan Jones married Margaret Eavis in 1959, and they had several children, including director Simon Cellan Jones. BBC journalist Rory Cellan-Jones is also James's son, by another woman prior to his marriage.[4]

Selected filmography[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "James Cellan Jones and the Classic Serial", Screen. November 1969; Vol. 10, Issue 6: pp. 33-44.
  2. ^ University of Cambridge. The Cambridge University List of Members for the Year 1991. Cambridge University Press, 1991. p. 228.
  3. ^ James Cellan Jones – Awards at the Internet Movie Database
  4. ^ Cellan Jones, James. Forsyte and Hindsight: Screen Directing for Pleasure and Profit. Kaleidoscope Publishing, 2006. pp. 14–15.

External links[edit]
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