Peter Collinson

Peter Collinson may refer to:

Peter Collinson (film director)

Peter Collinson (1 April 1936 – 16 December 1980) was a British film director probably best known for directing the 1969 movie The Italian Job.

Early life

Peter Collinson was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire in 1936. His parents, an actress and a musician, separated when he was two years old; he was raised by his grandparents. From ages eight to 14 he attended the Actor's Orphanage in Chertsey, Surrey where he had the chance to write and act in many plays. Noël Coward, who was president of the orphanage at the time, became his godfather and helped him to obtain jobs in the entertainment industry. Collinson later directed Coward in his best-known film, The Italian Job, in 1969 — this was dramatized in the radio play Mr Bridger's Orphan by Marcy Kahan in 2013.

In 1954 he was called up for national service and served two years in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency.

Career

His early television work included time as a floor manager for the BBC and directing for ATV at Elstree studios where he met Michael Klinger who would offer him the director role on his first film, The Penthouse. Collinson also worked with Telefís Éireann, the Republic of Ireland's national TV station, and in 1963 he won a Jacob's Award for his production, The Bomb. His 1978 film Tomorrow Never Comes was entered into the 11th Moscow International Film Festival.

Peter Collinson (botanist)

Peter Collinson (January 1694 – 11 August 1768) was a Fellow of the Royal Society, an avid gardener, and the middleman for an international exchange of scientific ideas in mid-18th century London. He is best known for his horticultural friendship with John Bartram and his correspondence with Benjamin Franklin about electricity.

Life and work

Born the son of a London woolen draper, Collinson entered his father's business and developed an interest in botany. His family belonged to the Gracechurch Street Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (or Quakers).

In October 1728 Collinson wrote to Sir Hans Sloane, President of the Royal Society, about strange events in Kent and on 7 November 1728 he was proposed for Fellowship of the society.

Collinson supported the struggle of Thomas Coram, William Hogarth and others to establish a charitable institution that would welcome babies abandoned by their mothers. A Royal Charter to start the Foundling Hospital was granted by George II on 17 October 1739. The charter lists Collinson as a founding governor.