Stuart Legg

Stuart Legg
Stuart Legg c. 1943
Born	(1910-08-31)August 31, 1910 London, England
Died	July 23, 1988(1988-07-23) (aged 77) Wiltshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Occupation	Filmmaker, Author
Known for	Filmmaking, Writing
Spouse(s)	Margaret Amos
Awards	Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject

Stuart Legg (31 August 1910 in London, England – 23 July 1988 in Wiltshire, England) was a documentary filmmaker who was a leading figure in both the United Kingdom and Canada as a pioneering director, writer and producer. During his long filmmaking career, Legg's work was largely unknown, although he had won an Academy Award during the Second World War.

Legg was born on 31 August 1910 in London into a middle-class household. His father was a solicitor. Legg graduated from Cambridge with a degree in engineering. His first film was Varsity (1931) with the university's Film Society. This was followed by Cambridge (1932), produced with some involvement from British Instructional Films.

After graduation, Legg worked for six months as an assistant to director Walter Creighton at Publicity Films, a commercial company. As part of the British Documentary Film Movement, Legg worked with John Grierson. His first film after being taken on by Grierson was The New Generation (1932) for Chesterfield Education Authority, said to "exemplify an attempt at the Russian technique."Joining the General Post Office Film Unit GPO Film Unit from 1933, Legg replaced Paul Rotha as head of Strand Films in 1937, where he moved from director to producer.

In 1939, Legg moved to Canada with his former mentor, Grierson, where he launched the National Film Board of Canada's Canada Carries On and The World in Action documentary film series, for which he made numerous films, as both a director and producer. Legg's films include Churchill's Island (1941), which won the first Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject, and Warclouds in the Pacific, which was nominated for the same award.