Canadian director Paul Almond died in Beverly Hills following complications from a recent heart attack, his son said, according to a The New York Times report Tuesday. He was 83.
Almond was best known for directing “Seven Up!” in 1964. The television film that examined the lives of a group of British children became the basis of the documentary series that has since followed them into middle age.
Although “Seven Up!” is most closely associated with Michael Apted, who directed all but the inaugural installment, Almond helped conceive the film, which first aired in the U.K. on ITV and featured interviews with the seven-year-olds from a wide range of social backgrounds.
Almond also directed a mystical trilogy of films — “Isabel” (1968), “Act of the Heart” (1970) and “Journey” (1972) — that starred his second wife Geneviève Bujold. The couple divorced in 1973.
His other directorial work included “Macbeth” in 1961 for Canadian television, starring a young Sean Connery, and episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”
Almond is survived by his third wife, Joan, his son Matthew, three stepsons, Trey, Tim and Chris Elkins; a stepdaughter, Tracy Elkins; and eight grandchildren.