Mike Leigh

Biography

Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s his career moved between work for the theatre and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterized by a gritty "kitchen sink realism" style. His well-known films include Life is Sweet (1990), the comedy-drama Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are arguably Naked (1993) for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the BAFTA-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies (1996) and Golden Lion winner Vera Drake (2004). His films and stage plays, according to the critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period."  Coveney further noted Leigh's role in helping to create stars – Liz Smith in Har…

Directed

1. Secrets & Lies (1996) — Director
2. Naked (1993) — Director
3. Mr. Turner (2014) — Director
4. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) — Director
5. Another Year (2010) — Director
6. Vera Drake (2004) — Director
7. All or Nothing (2002) — Director
8. Life Is Sweet (1991) — Director
9. Topsy-Turvy (1999) — Director
10. Hard Truths (2024) — Director
11. Peterloo (2018) — Director
12. Meantime (1983) — Director
13. High Hopes (1989) — Director
14. Career Girls (1997) — Director
15. Abigail's Party (1977) — Director
16. Bleak Moments (1971) — Director
17. Nuts in May (1976) — Director
18. The Short & Curlies (1987) — Director
19. A Sense of History (1992) — Director
20. A Running Jump (2012) — Director
21. Four Days in July (1984) — Director
22. Grown-Ups (1980) — Director
23. The Kiss of Death (1977) — Director
24. Hard Labour (1973) — Director
25. Play for Today (1970) — Director
26. Who's Who (1979) — Director
27. The Permissive Society (1975) — Director
28. The Birth of the Goalie of the 2001 F.A. Cup Final (1982) — Director
29. Old Chums (1982) — Director
30. Probation (1982) — Director
31. A Light Snack (1982) — Director
32. Afternoon (1982) — Director
33. Cinema16: British Short Films (2003) — Director
34. Two Mikes Don't Make a Wright (1993) — Director
35. Home Sweet Home (1982) — Director
36. A Mug's Game? (1973) — Director
37. Five-Minute Films (1982) — Director
38. Playhouse (1974) — Director
39. Tender Loving Care (2026) — Director
40. Second City Firsts (1973) — Director

Also appeared in

1. The Oscars (1953) — Self
2. The One Show (2006) — Self - Guest
3. What Is Cinema? (2013) — Self
4. Welcome to Hollywood (2000) — Mike Leigh
5. Maigret (1960)
6. West 11 (1963)
7. Vittorio D. (2009) — Self
8. Omnibus (1967) — Self
9. The Culture Show (2004) — Self
10. Cinema16: British Short Films (2003) — Self - Commentary, The Short & Curlies (voice)
11. Cannes Uncut (2023) — Self
12. Film '72 (1971) — Self
13. Inside the Golden Statue (1998) — Self
14. The Alan Titchmarsh Show (2007) — Self
15. Reel Britannia (2022) — Self
16. All About 'Abigail's Party' (2007) — Self
17. Two Left Feet (1963) — Jim
18. British Film Forever (2007)
19. Looking for Truffaut (2009) — Self
20. Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain (2025) — Self
21. Why Are We (Not) Creative? (2021) — Self
22. Mike Leigh: Making Plays (1982) — Self
23. The One and Only Mike Leigh (2014) — Self
24. Scenes from A Separation (2018) — Self
25. Citizen B (2025) — Self
26. Remembers… (2022) — Self
27. Untitled 13
28. Her Name Was Moviola (2024) — Self
29. Mike Leigh: The Conversation (2000) — Self - Interviewee
30. Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today (2020) — Self – Filmmaker
31. Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light (2016) — Self
32. Square (2012) — Self
33. Le Cercle (2005)
34. In Confidence (2010)