Alvin Rakoff, Canadian Director of Laurence Olivier Starrer ‘A Voyage Round My Father,’ Dies at 97
variety.comK.J. Yossman Canadian director, writer and producer Alvin Rakoff, best known for directing Laurence Olivier in “A Voyage Round My Father,” has died at the age of 97.
The cause of death was “old age,” his agent told Variety. He died on Oct. 12 at home, surrounded by his family. Over a career spanning more than four decades, which began when television was still only available in black-and-white, Rakoff was involved in over 100 television, film and stage productions as well as writing novels.
According to his representatives, he was still working into his ’90s. Rakoff was the third of seven children born to Sam and Pearl Rakoff in Toronto in 1927.
His parents owned a dry goods shop but the director grew up in poverty after the Great Depression hit in 1929. He would later recount the experience in his novel “Baldwin Street.” After seeing his first film in a theater at the age of 6, his love of film and television was ignited.
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