Roger Spottiswoode

John Roger Spottiswoode^[2] (born 5 January 1945) is a Canadian-British director, editor and writer of film and television.

Roger Spottiswoode
Born	John Roger Spottiswoode (1945-01-05) 5 January 1945 (age 80) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada[1]
Occupations	Film director screenwriter film editor television director
Years active	1966–present
Spouse	Holly Palance ​ ​ (m. 1983; div. 1997)​
Children	2
Awards	Gemini Award Festival du Film Policier de Cognac Special Jury Prize Cinéfest Sudbury Award for Best Canadian Film

Early life

He was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and was raised in Britain.^[3] His father Raymond Spottiswoode was a British film theoretician^[4] who worked at the National Film Board of Canada during the 1940s, directing short films such as Wings of a Continent.

Career

In the 1960s, Spottiswoode entered the British film industry as a trainee editor where he apprenticed under editor John Bloom. In the early 1970s Spottiswoode edited several films for Sam Peckinpah.^[5]

He wanted to direct and Walter Hill advised him the best way in was to write a script. Hill and Spottiswoode collaborated on the scripts for 48 Hours and the never-made The Last Gun.^[6]

Spottiswoode turned to directing in the early 1980s and has since directed a number of notable films and television productions, including Under Fire (1983)^[7] and the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies starring Pierce Brosnan.^[8] Spottiswoode was a member of the writing team responsible for 48 Hrs. starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte.^[9] In 2000, he directed the science fiction action thriller The 6th Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[10]

Filmography

Film

Film credits as director
Year	Title	Notes	Refs
1980	Terror Train		[11]
1981	The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper	Replaced director Buzz Kulik[12]
1983	Under Fire
1986	The Best of Times		[13]
1988	Shoot to Kill		[14]
1989	Turner & Hooch
1990	Air America		[15]
1992	Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot		[16]
1994	Mesmer		[17]
1997	Tomorrow Never Dies
2000	The 6th Day
2003	Spinning Boris		[18]
2005	Ripley Under Ground
2007	Shake Hands with the Devil		[19]
2008	The Children of Huang Shi		[20]
2012	Beyond Right and Wrong	Documentary film Co-directed with Lekha Singh
2014	The Journey Home	Co-directed with Brando Quilici
2016	A Street Cat Named Bob
2021	Either Side of Midnight

Film credits as editor
Year	Title	Notes
1971	Straw Dogs
1973	Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
1974	The Gambler
1975	Hard Times

Film credits as writer
Year	Title	Notes
1982	48 Hrs.

Television

Television episode credits as director
Year	Title	Notes
1982	The Renegades	Episode "Pilot"

Television movie credits as director
Year	Title	Notes
1987	The Last Innocent Man
1989	Third Degree Burn
1993	And the Band Played On
1995	Hiroshima
1997	Murder Live!
2000	Noriega: God's Favorite
2002	The Matthew Shepard Story
2003	Ice Bound: A Woman's Survival at the South Pole
2018	The Beach House

Awards and nominations

Won

• 1982: Festival du Film Policier de Cognac Special Jury Prize: The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper
• 1993: Montreal World Film Festival Special Grand Jury Prize: And the Band Played On^[21]
• 1995: Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series: Hiroshima
• 2003: Hamptons International Film Festival Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature: Spinning Boris^[22]
• 2007: Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival Audience Award: Shake Hands with the Devil
• 2007: Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film: Shake Hands with the Devil
• 2008: Beverly Hills Film Festival Jury Award: Shake Hands with the Devil

Nominated

• 1983: Edgar Award for Best Motion Picture: 48 Hrs. – with Walter Hill, Larry Gross, Steven E. de Souza
• 1988: CableACE Award for Directing a Movie or Miniseries: The Last Innocent Man
• 1988: NAACP Image Award for Best Motion Picture: Shoot to Kill
• 1994: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Miniseries or TV Film: And the Band Played On
• 1994: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special: And the Band Played On
• 1995: CableACE Award for Directing a Movie or Miniseries: And the Band Played On
• 2008: Genie Award for Best Achievement in Direction^[23]