Author, producer and director Alvin Rakoff dies aged 97

Canadian born author, producer and director Alvin Rakoff has died aged 97, his family has announced.

Rakoff’s career began with the early days of live black and white BBC television drama and lasted almost 70 years, with Alvin continuing to work into his nineties and completing three novels.

Born in Toronto on 6th February 1927, Rakoff was the third of seven children to Sam and Pearl (née Isenberg) who owned a dry goods shop in Baldwin Street.

It was a deprived upbringing with the family poverty stricken following the Great Depression. Rakoff’s experiences growing up would inspire his second novel, Baldwin Street (‎Bunim & Bannigan). His interest in storytelling was sparked aged six, when his parents took him to the cinema for the first time, and he began writing seriously aged 16.

After graduating from the University of Toronto with a psychology degree, Rakoff worked as a reporter, which helped to hone his writing skills, as he thrashed out thousands of words a day on news stories. When he fell on hard times, he took over the family shop with his brother Syd, but the weekend before settling into his new job he travelled to New York for the weekend and watched Marlon Brando on stage in the original Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’ "A Streetcard Named Desire", an experience that changed Rakoff’s life forever. After leaving the theatre, he made the decision there and then to try instead to make it in showbusiness.

After that experience, he made his way into the world of writing, working at the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), and sold his first script to the BBC in 1952. At the age of 26, he became the youngest producer/director in the BBC drama department.

From there he moved into more television drama, winning numerous awards, including an Emmy for Call Me Daddy (1967). As well as a writer, director and producer of screen and stage work, Rakoff was also an author of three novels. His first, Gillian (Little, Brown) received critical praise upon publication in 1996 and was later translated into 10 languages. Alvin also published the first volume of a series autobiographies with I’m Just the Guy Who Says Action (independently published) in 2021, which received critical acclaim. The second volume, I Need Another Take, Darling (independently published) was published the following year. His publicist Nick Pourgourides said he had “a mind as sharp an arrow” and Rakoff continued working on ideas for new projects all the way into 2024.

Stephen Fry said: "Alvin Rakoff was a giant of film, theatre and TV. His Midas touch with spotting and fostering talent introduced the world to some of the last century’s greatest stars. Typically he was working on a screenplay right up to the last.”

Dame Judi Dench said of Rakoff: “I have such wonderful memories of Alvin, both being directed by him and seeing him at The Mill. A very endearing person.”

Michael Crawford remarked: “Alvin was a beautifully sensitive director. I feel very fortunate to have worked with him. He rightly had a wonderful career.”

Dame Sheila Hancock said she "admired him so much. He was a fantastic innovative director", while Claire Bloom added that she had "very fond memories of Alvin as a man and as a fine director".

Wendy Craig said: “I felt very proud to be asked to play a role in Heart to Heart… A young and highly respected young Canadian, Alvin Rakoff directed it with passion and flair. He was inspiring to work with, as well as patient and kind and totally dedicated to writing and directing drama. He was still working in his nineties at The Mill at Sonning, and he will be much missed by all who knew him and had the pleasure of working with him.”

Zoë Wanamaker remarked: “He was extremely encouraging towards me during filming of Paradise Postponed (1986). He treated me as if I were a ’proper actress’ who understood his directorial language, which gave me a confidence that I’d not experienced before on television. Alvin liked actors and great scripts. Then in a Dance to The Music of Time, which he produced, we became friends.” 

Rakoff passed away peacefully on 12th October 2024, surrounded by his loving family. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Sally Hughes, managing director of The Mill at Sonning Theatre, and two children from his first marriage to the late Jacqueline Hill (d. 1993): Dr Sasha Rakoff, a charity executive and John Rakoff, a film producer. His stepson Adam Rolston is co-managing director and co-artistic director of The Mill at Sonning with Sally Hughes, and a film producer. Rakoff has five grandchildren and one surviving sibling, his sister Lorraine, a retired interior designer who still lives in Toronto. He was also the former president of the Directors Guild.