Raymond Stross
Raymond Stross | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 May 1916 |
| Died | 31 July 1988 (aged 72) Beverly Hills, California, United States |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Spouse | |
Raymond Stross (22 May 1916 – 31 July 1988) was a British film producer.[1][2]
Early life and education
[edit]Stross was born on 22 May 1916 in Leeds. He was educated at Roynd Hay High School and Abingdon School from 1929 until 1933 and was a member of the second XV rugby team.[3]
Film
[edit]Stross left school at age sixteen at went to work at Shepperton Studios. He started Sturt Stross Film Productions in 1937 becoming the second youngest director-producer in the country at the time. His company's first production was a film called The Show's the Thing[4] He also directed the 1937 film The Reverse Be My Lot.
He then went to work for various distributors and became branch manager in Northern Ireland for Columbia pictures. Stross bought a cimema in Belfast and bought up a chain. Then he bought another chain at Norwich. In 1948 Stross travelled to the US to increase his knowleddge and prepare for the move into production.[5]
Stross' first film as producer was Hell is Sold Out.[2][6] He soon became an "international" producer, frequently using American stars in his movies in order to make them more appealing to the world market.[5]
Ray Stiles, bassist with Mud and The Hollies, called himself Stross in tribute.
Stross had a huge box office success with The Fox (1967).[7]
Personal life
[edit]Stross was married to an American with whom he had a daughter, Laraine. He then married actress Clare Corey-James in March 1955 and attend the premiere of As Long as They's Happy that night.[8]
In July 1959 Stross announced he would marry actress Anne Heywood, who he met making A Terrible Beauty. "It was love at first sight," said Heywood. Stross apparently proposed the day after they met. He was still married to Corey-James who was by then a liteary agent.[9] He cited David Deutshc as a co-respondent in the divorce case.[10] Stross was granted a divorce on account of adultery between Deutsch and his second wife.[11] Corey James later announced she would marry Deutsch.[12]
Stross and Haywood married in March 1960[13] and they had a son and daughter.[2] He died in 1988 at his home in Beverly Hills, California.[2]
Selected filmography
[edit]- The Show's the Thing (1936) - director
- The Reverse Be My Lot (1937) - director
- Hell Is Sold Out (1951) - producer
- The Tall Headlines (1952) - producer
- The Man Who Watched Trains Go By (1952) - producer
- Rough Shoot (1953) - producer
- Star of India (1954) - producer
- As Long as They're Happy (1955) - producer
- An Alligator Named Daisy (1955) - producer
- Jumping for Joy (1956) - producer
- A Touch of the Sun (1956) - producer
- The Flesh Is Weak (1957) - producer
- A Question of Adultery (1958) - producer
- The Angry Hills (1959) - producer
- A Terrible Beauty (1960) - producer
- The Mark (1961) - producer
- The Brain (1962) - producer
- The Very Edge (1963) - producer
- The Leather Boys (1964) - producer
- Ninety Degrees in the Shade (1965) - producer
- The Fox (1967) - producer
- Midas Run (1969) - producer
- I Want What I Want (1972) - producer
- Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979) - producer
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ BFI.org
- ^ a b c d "Raymond Stross, Producer, 72". New York Times. 4 August 1988.
- ^ "Salvete" (PDF). The Abingdonian.
- ^ "OA Notes Easter 1937" (PDF). The Abingdonian.
- ^ a b "The producer - Raymond Stross". The Kensington News and West London Times. 20 March 1953. p. 3.
- ^ "OA Notes January 1951" (PDF). The Abingdonian.
- ^ Zec, Donald (18 July 1968). "Heywood - after the Fox". Daily Mirror. p. 9.
- ^ "Film producer marries". Evening Standard. 10 March 1955. p. 8.
- ^ "First-love Anne must wait for her man". Daily Herald. 29 July 1959. p. 2.
- ^ "Film boss seeking a divorce". Daily Record. 26 September 1959. p. 6.
- ^ "Decree for film man". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 30 October 1959. p. 3.
- ^ "Raymond Stross' ex-wife plans to marry again". Evening Standard. 4 January 1960. p. 3.
- ^ "Tea with Anne...". Evening Standard. March 1960. p. 8.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
