Paul Dickson(1920-2011)

British director, the son of a tobacconist. Educated at Ellesmere college, he served in a secret service capacity in Italy, before working as a cameraman in the army film unit. He was acclaimed for his documentary shorts made for World Wide Pictures between 1949 and 1952. Dickson returned to documentary work in the 1960's, in-between taking on more commercial film and television projects. He was also involved in advertising, turning out successful commercials for Martini, John Player and Birdseye. As head of direction at the National Film School in Beaconsfield (1980-1989), Dickson lectured in Sydney, Belgrade, Moscow and Lodz.