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. His family announced his death in a statement, saying Rakoff “passed away … surrounded by his loving family in the same, beautiful old house in Chiswick he had bought back in 1971”.
Born in Toronto in 1927, Rakoff came from a family of east European Jewish immigrants to Canada, but came to the UK in 1952 after turning his back on the family shop and committing to a career in show business. 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.
