Leslie Megahey, who has died aged 77, was a director of arts documentaries on subjects across a wide spectrum, from movie legends such as Orson Welles to JRR Tolkien and other literary greats, but his own special love for painters brought to television a string of acclaimed film profiles.
Alongside making his own programmes, he had spells running the BBC’s art series Arena and Omnibus. When offered the Omnibus job, he took it on condition that he could make a film based on the life and work of the 17th-century Dutch portrait painter Godfried Schalcken.
