Puttnam, David (1941-…), a British motion-picture producer, won fame as one of the architects of a revival in British filmmaking in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Starting with low-budget successes, he demonstrated the United Kingdom’s continuing potential to bring to the cinema screen high-quality, internationally marketable films.
David Terence Puttnam was born on Feb. 25, 1941, in Southgate, London. In the late 1960’s, he moved out of a successful career in advertising and photography into financing films. His first feature, S.W.A.L.K. (1969), was followed by a number of widely praised films, including Bugsy Malone (1976), Midnight Express (1977), and The Duellists (1977). Since 1980, he has produced a number of original films of international significance. They include Chariots of Fire (1981), Local Hero (1983), The Killing Fields (1984), and The Mission (1986). British directors whose work he encouraged include Alan Parker and Bill Forsyth. From 1986 to 1988, Puttnam was chairman and chief executive officer of Columbia Pictures. He returned to producing films independently with The Memphis Belle (1990). Puttnam wrote The Undeclared War (1997), which deals with the battle for motion-picture supremacy between Europe and the United States.
In June 1997, Puttnam was appointed to the United Kingdom’s Department of Education and Employment Standards Task Force. In September 1997, he became the first chancellor of the University of Sunderland.
Puttnam was appointed Commander of the British Empire in 1983 for services to the British film industry and received a knighthood in 1995. He was given a life peerage in 1997 and took the title Baron Puttnam of Queensgate in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
