Mike Ockrent's professional career was largely dedicated to directing for the theater, which he had great success doing. Ockrent was born in London and educated at Edinburgh University, obtaining a degree in physics. In the late '60s and throughout the 1970s, Ockrent spent the majority of his time working with various theater groups throughout Great Britain. It was the 1980s and 1990s that he would enjoy his greatest amount of success, and, naturally, he tried his hand at film. His first film, Dancin' Thru the Dark, played at the 1990 Venice Film Festival with some success, but his main interests seemed to be in theater and he would only work on a couple more films in various capacities. At the time of his death in late 1999, at age 53, he was working on a number of plays and musicals that were in various stages of preproduction. ~ All Movie Guide
Family
-
Daughter: Natasha Ockrent. mother, Susan Carpenter
-
Son: Ben Ockrent. mother, Susan Carpenter
Education
-
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, physics
Milestones
-
1969 Worked as an trainee director at the Perth Theatre
-
1973 Was artistic director of Edinburgh s Traverse Theatre
-
1976 Began to direct stage plays on a freelance basis
-
1979 Staged C.P. Taylor s play And a Nightengale Sang
-
1980 Was director of the London premiere of Willy Russell s comedy Educating Rita , starring Julie Walters
-
1985 Breakthrough stage production, the revival of Me and My Girl ; collaborated with Stephen Fry on the book; show starred Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson
-
1987 Earned critical praise for his staging of the James Godman-Stephen Sondheim musical Follies in London
-
1990 Directed the British teleplay Dancin Through the Dark , scripted by Willy Russell
-
1992 Staged the Tony-winning Best Musical Crazy for You , a loose reworking of the Gershwin s Girl Crazy ; first stage collaboration with future wife choreographer Susan Stroman
-
1994 Directed the original production of the annual holiday presentation of A Christmas Carol in NYC
-
1994 Helmed the BBC production Money for Nothing
-
1996 Staged the ill-fated Broadway musical Big , based on the popular film that starred Tom Hanks; Stroman served as choreographer
-
1997 Served as director of the oratorio King David , with as score by Alan Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice
-
1997 Signed a two-year, first-look deal with Warner Bros. reportedly to develop musicals for the big screen
-
1999 Directed the Off-Broadway play La Terrasse
-
After college, remained in Scotland
-
Apprenticed under Joan Knight
-
First notable success as director, Once a Catholic ; opened at the Royal Court Theatre before transferring to London s West End
-
Was developing a musical loosely inspired by the film The Night They Raided Minsky s at the time of his death