David Lean, Director Of `Lawrence,' Dies At 83

LONDON - Sir David Lean, who won Academy Awards for directing "Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia," died in London today at the age of 83, his lawyer announced.

The lawyer, Tony Reeves, issued a statement to reporters that did not disclose the cause of death. Lean reportedly had been ill for some time.

As a director, Lean brought a jeweler's precision to sweeping film epics. Robert Mitchum, who starred in "Ryan's Daughter," said working for him was "like trying to build the Taj Mahal with matchsticks."

Lean's directorial career began in collaboration with Noel Coward and progressed to acclaimed adaptations of Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist."

He was best known for the wide-screen spectaculars, which began with "Bridge on the River Kwai" (which will be shown in a 70mm print beginning Friday at the Guild 45th theater in the University District) and included "Dr. Zhivago" and "A Passage to India."

In March, he was to have begun filming "Nostromo," a project based on Joseph Conrad's novel that had been several years in the works. On Jan. 8, his French producer Serge Silberman said Lean had been taken ill and that he was undergoing medical checks. Work on the film was suspended.

"I just love telling stories," he said in a 1990 interview with The Times of London, the city where he made his home.

Born March 25, 1908, in Croydon, south of London, Lean went to work in 1928 for Gaumont Studios as a number-board boy. He soon displayed an aptitude for editing, and was put in charge of Gaumont Sound News, for which he also wrote scripts and provided narration.

Lean edited Gabriel Pascal's production of George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" in 1938, and Shaw's "Major Barbara" three years later.

In 1942, his reputation as a technician led to his being named co-director with Noel Coward of "In Which We Serve," an award-winning drama of the Royal Navy in World War II.

Coward was pleased with the results, and gave Lean permission to film any of his plays. Lean and two others formed a production company that brought Coward's "This Happy Breed" to the screen in 1944, followed a year later by "Blithe Spirit" and "Brief Encounter."

"Great Expectations," released in 1946, won three Academy Awards, plus Lean's first nomination as best director.

"The Bridge on the River Kwai" in 1957 was Lean's first great success. The film won seven Academy Awards, including best director.

"Lawrence of Arabia," which made a film star of Peter O'Toole, followed in 1962. It also won seven Oscars, including one for Lean as director. "Lawrence," which Lean worked with James C. Katz and Bob Harris to restore for re-release in 1989, is playing this week at the King theater in downtown Seattle.

Lean was knighted in 1984. In 1990, he was honored with a life achievement award from the American Film Institute.

Married five times, he had a son from his first marriage.