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Alvin Rakoff, veteran director of British TV and film, dies aged 97

The much-loved director gave an unknown Sean Connery his first leading role as well as overseeing some of the biggest TV dramas of the 1970s and 80s

Alvin Rakoff, prolific director and producer of scores of film and TV productions including Requiem for a Heavyweight, Passport to Shame and A Dance to the Music of Time, has died aged 97. Having worked as a writer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Rakoff was quickly accepted on the BBC’s directors’ training course and moved swiftly on to make a string of successful TV dramas. Rakoff soon made his mark: his 1954 drama Waiting for Gillian won a National Television award and in 1957 he cast a then unknown Sean Connery in the lead role in the British version of the successful American TV play Requiem for a Heavyweight.

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