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Gavin Millar (11 January 1938 – 20 April 2022) was a Scottish film director, critic and television presenter.

Biography

Millar was born in Clydebank, near Glasgow, the son of Tom Millar and his wife Rita (née Osborne). The family relocated to the Midlands when he was nine and he was educated at King Edward’s School, Birmingham. He undertook national service in the Royal Air Force and then read English at Christ Church, Oxford from 1958 to 1961. Millar took a postgraduate film course at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.[1]

Career

Millar was a film critic for The Listener from 1970 to 1984.[2] He also contributed to Sight and Sound and the London Review of Books. He wrote a new section to Karel Reisz‘s book The Technique of Film Editing for the 1968 edition.[1][3] On television, he wrote, produced and presented Arena Cinema for the BBC from 1976 to 1980, and wrote and presented numerous other cinema and visual arts documentaries.[4]

In 1980, he directed Dennis Potter‘s Cream in My Coffee for London Weekend Television, which received a BAFTA nomination.[5] His first feature film as director was 1985’s Dreamchild.[6][7] He would later collaborate with Dreamchild’s producer Rick McCallum again on the episode Peking, March 1910, part of George Lucas‘s television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1993. It was later re-edited to be part of Journey of Radiance when the series became The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones on its DVD release.[8] His 1994 television film Pat and Margaret, featuring Victoria Wood, received a further BAFTA nomination, and Housewife, 49 (2006), a later collaboration with Wood, won the 2007 award.[9]

Personal life, illness and death

Millar married Sylvia Lane in 1966. She died in 2012. The couple had five children.[1]

Millar died of a brain tumour on 20 April 2022, aged 84.[1]

Selected works

Feature films

TV

References

  1. ^ a b c d Gilbey, Ryan (28 April 2022). “Gavin Millar obituary”. The Guardian. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  2. ^ SHOVLIN, FRANK (31 August 2021). The Letters of John McGahern. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571326679 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ “Revisiting Some Classic Texts of Film Editing”. 15 May 2012.
  4. ^ “Gavin Millar”. BFI. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018.
  5. ^ “BAFTA Awards”. awards.bafta.org.
  6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (4 November 2025). “Forgotten British Moguls: Verity Lambert at Thorn-EMI Films”. Filmink. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  7. ^ “Dreamchild”. Time Out Worldwide. 10 September 2012.
  8. ^ “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Journey of Radiance – Rotten Tomatoes”. www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  9. ^ “Film makers on film Gavin Millar”. Telegraph. 21 June 2004. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  10. ^ “Today’s Television: BBC-2”. The Observer. 11 January 1970. p. 44. Retrieved 28 March 2026. “9.5. Music on 2: The Eye Hears, the Ear Sees. Norman McLaren talks to Gavin Millar about his work.”
  11. ^ Pratley, Gerald (2 July 1989). “NFB takes sentimental journey across the land”. The Toronto Star. p. C8. “The animation artist who Grierson brought to the filmboard from the U.K., Norman McLaren, is profiled in the NFB-BBC study of his work called, The Eye Hears, The Ear Sees. Shakespeare’s well known line is used by director, Gavin Millar, as a compliment genius of McLaren in this 60-minute survey. Everyone interested in knowing how he worked will be fascinated by the revelations, particularly in the making of Neighbours – the most screened NFB film during this anniversary year.”
  12. ^ (2010). Bowker’s Complete Video Directory 2010. Grey House Publishing. p. 683. ISBN 9781592376261. “The Eye Hears, the Ear Sees. (1970). Film-History And Criticism. Color. 59 mins. MRA. Featuring Norman McLaren, Grant Munro. Hosted by Gavin Millar. Shakespeare said it first, but here Gavin Millar of the BBC employs the phrase as a tribute to the unique filmmaking career of Norman McLaren. Millar talks with McLaren and another NFB film animator, Grant Munro, and shows many examples of the development of the McLaren style, from his earliest to his most recent films.”