Portrait of Michael Apted

Birthday profile

Michael Apted

Michael Apted, English director and producer (died 2021)

Born
February 10, 1941
Died
January 7, 2021
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1941

About Michael Apted

Michael David Apted (10 February 1941 – 7 January 2021) was an English television and film director and producer. Apted began working in television and directed the Up documentary series from 1970 to 2019. He later directed Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), which was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. His subsequent work included Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Nell (1994), the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Enigma (2001). His film Amazing Grace (2006) premiered at the closing of the Toronto International Film Festival that year. On 29 June 2003, he was elected president of the Directors Guild of America, a position he served until 2009. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. In 2005, he directed the first three episodes of the TV series Rome. It won a Peabody Award in 2012 "for its creator’s patience and its subjects' humanity." During his seven-year period of working at Granada, Apted also directed a number of episodes of Coronation Street, then written by Jack Rosenthal, among others. For his work in television, Apted won several British Academy Awards, including two Flaherty Documentary Awards for his work on 28 Up and 35 Up and a BAFTA for Best Dramatic Director for the single play Kisses at Fifty in 1974.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Michael Apted timeline

  1. For his work in television, Apted won several British Academy Awards, including two Flaherty Documentary Awards for his work on 28 Up and 35 Up and a BAFTA for Best Dramatic Director for the single play Kisses at Fifty in 1974.
  2. In 2005, he directed the first three episodes of the TV series Rome.
  3. It won a Peabody Award in 2012 "for its creator’s patience and its subjects' humanity." During his seven-year period of working at Granada, Apted also directed a number of episodes of Coronation Street, then written by Jack Rosenthal, among others.

The world when Michael Apted was born

Michael Apted was born in 1941. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1941

  • #1 song"Chattanooga Choo Choo" – Glenn Miller
  • Top movieCitizen Kane
  • Best-selling bookThe Keys of the Kingdom – A.J. Cronin

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJoe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak
  • Top headlineJapan bombs Pearl Harbor — United States enters World War II
  • Technology milestoneFirst commercial television broadcasts (CBS, NBC)
  • Defining fadVictory gardens
  • Notable inventionAerosol spray can
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population133.4M

1941 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Michael Apted's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19412026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,500$435,000
Average income$3,400$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population133.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.