- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJoseph Walton Losey
- Nickname
- Joe
- Belonging to an important family clan in Wisconsin, Joseph Losey studied philosophy but was always interested in theater and thus worked together with Bertolt Brecht. After directing some shorts for MGM, he made his first important film, Le garçon aux cheveux verts (1948), for RKO. While he was filming Le Rôdeur (1951) in Italy he was summoned to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, the congressional committee charged with "rooting out" Communist "subversion" in the motion picture industry. Unwilling to subject himself to the committee's well-known intimidation tactics, Losey decided to seek exile in Great Britain. In the following years he used a pseudonym--"Joseph Walton"--for his films, which were of minor quality. He regained his prestige with the thrillers L'enquête de l'inspecteur Morgan (1959), Les criminels (1960) and Eva (1962). From that point on his films varied between top-quality work like Accident (1967) and much lower-quality projects such as Modesty Blaise (1966), which was a box-office success, and Galileo (1975), which wasn't.- IMDb mini biography by: Volker Boehm
- SpousesPatricia Losey(September 29, 1970 - June 22, 1984) (his death)Dorothy Bromiley(June 16, 1956 - December 1963) (divorced, 1 child)Louisa Stuart(October 19, 1944 - March 14, 1953) (divorced)Elizabeth Hawes(July 23, 1937 - 1944) (divorced, 1 child)
- Children
- RelativesJoachim Losey(Great Grandchild)Luke Losey(Grandchild)Marek Losey(Grandchild)
- Regularly cast Dirk Bogarde and Stanley Baker in leading roles.
- Regularly worked with screenwriters Harold Pinter and Evan Jones.
- Attended the same high school in La Crosse, WI, as Nicholas Ray.
- Gave Edward Fox and James Fox their big breaks in films.
- Tried unsuccessfully to launch a project with opera legend Maria Callas, but she didn't like the part he offered her, which was that of an old star who desperately tries to return to her successful past. She considered herself at the time far too young for such a role, but said she was flattered by his offer.
- The director character played by Martin Scorsese in La Liste noire (1991) was based on Losey.
- Studied with Bertolt Brecht in Germany.
- I am frequently told that my films don't make money. Since I have averaged one film a year for 30 years--some of them expensive ones--I can only conclude that somebody is making money.
- Films can illustrate our existence . . . they can distress, disturb and provoke people into thinking about themselves and certain problems. But NOT give the answers.
- Film is a dog: the head is commerce, the tail is art. And only rarely does the tail wag the dog.
- The productiveness of the director-actor relationship depends on the degree to which the actor trusts the director. Unless the actor feels he can safely risk everything he has to give without making himself ridiculous he won't try. He'll play safe until he knows the director will not let him make a fool of himself.
- [on Ginger Rogers] Ginger Rogers was one of the worst, Red-baiting, terrifying reactionaries in Hollywood.
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