Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Michael Lindsay-Hogg is a British-American director whose work spans television, film, music video, and theatre. Born Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg on May 5, 1940, in New York City, he was the son of actress Geraldine Fitzgerald and her then-husband Sir Edward William Lindsay-Hogg. He was educated at Trinity School in New York and Choate School in Connecticut. Following his parents' divorce in 1946, he grew up with a stepfather, American businessman Stuart Scheftel, who married Fitzgerald that same year. When Lindsay-Hogg was 16, his mother acknowledged longstanding rumors that director Orson Welles was his biological father, though she denied them in a manner that left him uncertain. Lindsay-Hogg had known Welles personally and worked with him in the theatre. After learning that Welles's eldest daughter, Chris, had long suspected Lindsay-Hogg was her brother, he pursued a DNA test, which proved inconclusive. In his 2011 autobiography, Luck and Circumstance: A Coming of Age in Hollywood, New York, and Points Beyond, Lindsay-Hogg reported that Gloria Vanderbilt, a close friend of Fitzgerald's, confirmed in writing that Fitzgerald had told her Welles was his father. A 2015 biography of Welles by Patrick McGilligan, however, argues against this conclusion, noting that Fitzgerald was already pregnant when she returned from Ireland in late October 1939, while Welles had not traveled overseas during that period. Sir Edward Lindsay-Hogg died in 1999, and Lindsay-Hogg was next in line to succeed to the baronetcy of Rotherfield Hall in East Sussex but took no steps to establish his succession; the baronetcy is listed as dormant on the official roll.

Lindsay-Hogg appeared on Broadway as a performer in 1957, with credits including the comedy The Taming of the Shrew. He later transitioned to directing, beginning his professional career in British television. In 1965, he directed episodes of the British pop programme Ready Steady Go!, working with artists including the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, and The Who. He also directed episodes of several television series during this period, among them Blackmail, The Informer, A Man of Our Times, Half Hour Story, and The Company of Five. He served as series director of The Ronnie Barker Playhouse in 1968, and in 1969 directed the episode "Matakitas is Coming" for the anthology series Journey to the Unknown, which was later released as part of a television film. He also worked as a producer's assistant on the 1964 film Dear Heart.

His work on Ready Steady Go! brought him into contact with leading rock artists of the era, and he was subsequently hired to direct promotional films for their music. His early output in this area included films for the Beatles' "Paperback Writer," "Rain," "Hey Jude," and "Revolution," as well as the Rolling Stones' "2000 Light Years from Home," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Child of the Moon." In 1968, the Rolling Stones approached him to direct a full-length television special, which he conceived as The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, featuring the band and other musicians performing in a circus setting. The band was not fully satisfied with the result, and the film was not released until 1996. The Beatles subsequently hired Lindsay-Hogg to direct a film documenting their recording and rehearsal process. Originally planned as a television special under the title Get Back, the project was shelved following the Beatles' rooftop concert in January 1969 before being completed and released as the documentary Let It Be in 1970, accompanied by an album of the same name. Footage from that original production was later used by Peter Jackson for the 2021 documentary series The Beatles: Get Back. In recognition of his contributions to the form, Camerimage presented Lindsay-Hogg with a retrospective Music Video Pioneer award in 2012.

Lindsay-Hogg continued directing music videos throughout the 1970s, with work for the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney and Wings among his credits. In 1985, he directed the video for Whitney Houston's single "You Give Good Love." His concert film work during the 1980s included Simon and Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park, Neil Young's Neil Young in Berlin, and Paul Simon, Graceland: The African Concert. His second theatrical feature, Nasty Habits, a comedy satire of the Watergate scandal, was released in 1977, followed by The Sound of Murder in 1982. Television work during the 1980s included directing adaptations of Doctor Fischer of Geneva (1984), Master Harold...and the Boys (1985), As Is (1986), and The Little Match Girl (1987). His work on the BBC series Play for Today and Play of the Week each received BAFTA nominations, in 1974 and 1978 respectively, and his direction of the television serial Brideshead Revisited (1981) earned both a BAFTA nomination in 1983 and a win for Best Drama Series/Serial. His BBC television film The Object of Beauty received positive reviews in 1991, and his HBO comedy-drama Running Mates was broadcast in 1992. The feature film Frankie Starlight followed in 1995. In 1994, he directed the Roger Daltrey concert film A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who. The VH1 television film Two of Us (2000) presents a fictionalized account of a final meeting between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and in 2001 he directed a film adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. In 2015, Lindsay-Hogg began directing the web series Tinsel's Town.

His theatre directing career includes both the original 1978 Broadway production of Whose Life Is It Anyway? and its 1980 revival. His direction of the original production earned him a Tony Award nomination for Best Direction of a Play in 1979. He went on to direct the Broadway productions of Agnes of God (1982) and The Boys of Winter (1985). Off-Broadway, he directed Larry Kramer's AIDS drama The Normal Heart in 1985.

In his personal life, Lindsay-Hogg married Lucy Mary Davies in 1967; they divorced in 1971. Lucy Lindsay-Hogg later became the second wife of photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, in 1978. During the 1970s, Lindsay-Hogg was romantically involved with English actress Jean Marsh for approximately ten years. He was also involved with Gloria Vanderbilt and was reportedly linked with actress Mary Tyler Moore, whom he directed on Broadway in Whose Life Is It Anyway?