Personal info
Known for
Director
Gender
Male
Birthday
01 August
Location
England, United Kingdom
Edit pageJ. Lee Thompson
Biography
John Lee Thompson (1 August 1914 – 30 August 2002) was a British film director, active in London and Hollywood, best known for award-winning films such as Woman in a Dressing Gown, Ice Cold in Alex and The Guns of Navarone along with cult classics like Cape Fear, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes and The White Buffalo.
The film rights to Double Error were purchased for £100. Thompson was hired to work in the scriptwriting department at British International Pictures at Elstree Studios. While there he made his one appearance as an actor in films, playing a small role in Midshipman Easy (1935).
His first credit was The Price of Folly (1937), based on his play. He also worked on the scripts for Glamorous Night (1937), and he worked as a dialogue coach on Jamaica Inn (1939), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
He wrote the scripts for The Middle Watch (1940), made at Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), and East of Piccadilly (1941).
Thompson served in World War II as a tail gunner and wireless operator in the RAF. In 1942 a revised version of Double Error, titled Murder Without Crime, opened at the Comedy Theatre in London. The play had a run on Broadway in 1943.
Thompson died of congestive heart failure on 30 August 2002, at his holiday home in Sooke, British Columbia, aged 88.
