Ken Annakin
Director

Ken Annakin Net Worth

Ken Annakin was a British director, writer, and producer who began his career making documentary shorts. His feature debut, Holiday Camp (1947), was a comedy about a Cockney family on vacation and spawned three sequels. He worked steadily thereafter, mainly in light comedies, but also directed the dark thriller Across the Bridge (1957). In the 1960s he was one of several British directors who specialized in big-budget European/American co-productions, such as The Longest Day (1962) and Battle of the Bulge (1965). His final film was Genghis Khan: The Story of a Lifetime (2010), which he started in 1992 but was unable to complete before his death. Italian director Antonio Margheriti finished the film and it was released in 2010.
Ken Annakin is a member of Director

Age, Biography and Wiki

Who is it? Director, Writer, Producer
Birth Day August 10, 1914
Birth Place  Beverley, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Age 106 YEARS OLD
Died On 22 April 2009(2009-04-22) (aged 94)\nBeverly Hills, California, US
Birth Sign Virgo
Occupation Film director
Years active 1941–1992
Spouse(s) Pauline Carter
Children 2

💰 Net worth

Ken Annakin, a renowned Director, Writer, and Producer in the United Kingdom, is expected to have a net worth ranging between $100,000 and $1 million in 2024. With his remarkable contributions to the film industry, Annakin has earned a significant reputation for his creative talent and remarkable storytelling skills. Throughout his career, he has worked on numerous successful projects, amassing both critical acclaim and financial success. As a result, his net worth is projected to reach an impressive figure in the coming years, solidifying his position as one of the prominent figures in the film industry.

Famous Quotes:

So You Wanna Be a Director? is an entertaining autobiography through which seasoned directors and aspirants alike can enjoy and learn from a man with such a versatile and long-lived career. If Annakin tells of his exasperation over trying to coax performances out of producers' girlfriends, the bad behaviour – and sometimes the drug problems – of certain stars and the vagaries of international film financing, he's providing tales that are as cautionary today as when he lived them.

Biography/Timeline

1926

In 2001 he released a highly regarded autobiography So You Wanna Be A Director? published by Tomahawk Press (ISBN 0-953 1926-5-2). Considered "a classic among directors' autobiographies" it has forewords by both Richard Attenborough and Mike Leigh. In their review, the Directors Guild of America stated

1940

His career spanned half a century, beginning in the early 1940s and ending in 2002. His career peaked in the 1960s with large-scale adventure films and in all he directed nearly 50 pictures.

1942

Injured in the Liverpool Blitz, he joined the RAF Film Unit, where he worked as camera operator on propaganda films for the Ministry of Information and the British Council. We Serve (1942), a recruiting film for women, was directed by Carol Reed, who made Annakin his assistant Director, after which Annakin directed several training films for Verity Films, a group led by Sydney Box, who was about to become head of Gainsborough Pictures. His early documentaries included London 1942 (1942), Make Fruitful the Land (1945), We of the West Riding (1945), and English Criminal Justice (1946). He also made the shorts It Began on the Clyde (1946) and Fenlands (1946).

1947

Annakin had made a number of documentaries for Sydney Box and when Box took over as head of Gainsborough Pictures he brought Annakin with him and assigned him to his first feature, Holiday Camp (1947). It was a solid hit and launched Annakin's career.

1948

Holiday Camp featured the Huggetts, a working-class family living in suburban England headed by Jack Warner and Kathleen Harrison. They were spun off into their own vehicle directed by Annakin, Here Come the Huggetts (1948) with Petula Clark, Jane Hylton, and Susan Shaw as their young daughters, Amy Veness as their grandmother and Diana Dors as their cousin. It was popular and led to Vote for Huggett (1949) and The Huggetts Abroad (1949).

1949

Annakin moved over to Associated British Pictures Corporation for whom he directed Landfall (1949), a war film; and Double Confession (1950), a thriller.

1951

For United Artists he did the comedy Hotel Sahara (1951) with Peter Ustinov.

1952

Annakin then received an offer from Walt Disney to make The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) with Richard Todd. He then made an action film set during the Malayan Emergency, the United Artist's film The Planter's Wife (1952) with Jack Hawkins and Claudette Colbert, which was a big hit in Britain. Disney reunited Annakin and Todd on The Sword and the Rose (1953), a commercial disappointment.

1954

Annakin made a comedy, You Know What Sailors Are (1954) then did another imperial adventure story with Hawkins, The Seekers (1954). He returned to comedy for Value for Money (1955), Loser Takes All (1956) and Three Men in a Boat (1956). The latter especially was popular.

1957

Annakin made Across the Bridge (1957) with Rod Steiger from a story by Graham Greene. He then travelled to South Africa to make another adventure story, Nor the Moon by Night (1958).

1959

Disney called again and hired Annakin to make a mountaineering tale, Third Man on the Mountain (1959). They kept him on for Swiss Family Robinson (1960), which Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy, considered "one of the greatest family adventure films of all time and a favourite for generations of moviegoers". It was a huge hit.

1961

Annakin returned to comedy with Very Important Person (1961) and travelled to South Africa for The Hellions (1962). The Fast Lady (1962) and Crooks Anonymous (1962) were other comedies.

1962

He was later associated with another American Producer, Darryl F. Zanuck, when he was hired to direct the British and (uncredited) French and American interior segments in The Longest Day (1962), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, eventually losing out to Lawrence of Arabia. Annakin then made The Informers (1963).

1965

As head of the 20th Century-Fox Studio, Zanuck endorsed Annakin's most ambitious project Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965), also co-written by Annakin for which he received an Academy Award nomination.

1967

Annakin also directed the big-scale war film Battle of the Bulge the same year for the Warner Brothers studio. He did The Long Duel (1967) in India for Rank, The Biggest Bundle of Them All (1968) for MGM in Italy, and Monte Carlo or Bust (1969) for Paramount Pictures.

1972

Annakin continued to travel widely with his films The Call of the Wild (1972) was shot in Finland; Paper Tiger (1975) in Malaysia;

1979

In 1979, Ken Annakin left Britain and moved to Los Angeles. There he made The Pirate (1978) and Institute for Revenge (1979). He travelled to Europe for The Fifth Musketeer (1979). In Hollywood he made Cheaper to Keep Her (1981) and went to Australia for The Pirate Movie (1982).

1988

Annakin's last completed film was The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (1988). The 1992 project Genghis Khan was not completed.

2002

Annakin was made one of the few Disney Legends by the Walt Disney Company in March 2002. He is only the second film Director to be so honoured. He was also awarded an OBE the same year for services to the film industry and received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Hull University.

2009

Claims were made that George Lucas took the name for Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars from his friend and fellow film director; however, Lucas' publicist denied this following Annakin's death in 2009.

Some Ken Annakin images

About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.