Jill Craigie
| Jill Craigie | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
7 March 1911 Fulham, London, UK |
| Died | 13 December 1999 (aged 88) Hampstead, London, UK |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Documentary film director, screenwriter and feminist |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 1 |
Jill Craigie (7 March 1911 – 13 December 1999) was an English documentary film director, screenwriter and feminist. She married the Labour Party politician Michael Foot (1913–2010), whom she met during the making of her film The Way We Live.
Born Noreen Jean Craigie to a Russian mother and a Scottish father in Fulham, London, Craigie started her career in film as an actress.
She became politicised because of the events of the 1930s and she turned to filmmaking. Her films depicted her socialist leanings and dealt with left-wing topics such as child refugees, working conditions for miners, and gender equality. After directing five films and writing two others, Craigie retired from the film business for almost forty years, returning to make a single film for BBC television.
Craigie was one of the scriptwriters of Trouble in Store, Norman Wisdom's film debut, which screened in December 1953. The film broke box office records at 51 out of the 67 London cinemas in which it played. After writing the first draft of the script, Craigie reportedly asked that her name be removed from the credits after learning of Wisdom's participation.
In latter years Craigie became an authority on the suffragette movement, holding a large collection of feminist literature in Britain, with pamphlets dating back to John Stuart Mill.
Craigie had a daughter, Julie, from her first marriage. She and Michael Foot had no children together, but enjoyed family life with Julie and, later, her four children. They lived in a flat in Hampstead, north London, and in a cottage in Ebbw Vale.
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