John Crockett (director)

John Crockett
Born	31 January 1918 Hampshire, England
Died	11 October 1986 (aged 68) Newlyn, Cornwall, England
Occupation	director

John Angus Basil Crockett (31 January 1918 – 11 October 1986) was a stage and television director. He was the second son of Colonel Basil Crockett DSO.

He directed the Doctor Who story The Aztecs in 1964, one of the most highly regarded of the black and white stories. In the 2002 DVD release of the story, the actor John Ringham is effusive in his praise for Crockett. Crockett also directed Episode 4 of Marco Polo, which is entitled The Wall of Lies.

In 1939, he was a student of Art at Goldsmiths' College, New Cross, London, UK.

In 1944 he established a theatre company called The Compass Players. It was a travelling company that intended to perform high quality theatre to audiences who would not normally have access to it. Their base was Crockett's own home, an old house and estate in Gloucestershire. During this time Crockett met his wife to be, Anne Marguritte Stern, first daughter of Dr. William Joseph Stern OBE, an eminent physicist. They raised their family in the Cotswolds, where he continued to paint.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, John produced a number of plays for both the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Dundee Repertory Theatre.

From Sept.1969 until Dec.1976 he was a teacher of Art and Drama at Downside School (Somerset, UK.), where he sent one of his three sons, Dr Antony Crockett FRCGP.

References and book

• Plays Without Theatres: Recollections of the Compass Players Travelling Theatre, 1944-52, edited by Pamela Dellar - Highgate Publications (Beverley) Ltd (8 Oct 1989) ISBN 978-0-948929-27-4.

External links

• John Crockett at the Internet Movie Database