John Irvin, Director of ‘Hamburger Hill,’ ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,’ Dies at 86

John Irvin, the British director of “Hamburger Hill,” the “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” miniseries and 1981’s “Ghost Story,” died Aug. 11. He was 86. 

His producers confirmed he died at the home of his sister-in-law in the U.K. 

The award-winning director’s career spanned several decades, each punctuated by a different focus. By the end of his career, Irvin had amassed over 30 films and three BAFTA nominations, with notable credits including “Turtle Diary,” “A Month By the Lake,” “City of Industry” and “Widow’s Peak.” 

His 1987 Vietnam film “Hamburger Hill,” which starred Don Cheadle, Dylan McDermott, Michael Boatman, Steven Weber and Courtney B. Vance, is seen as one of the most realistic depictions of that war.

Irvin, along with his twin brother David, was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland on May 7, 1940. He graduated from the London Film School in the late 1950s.

In the 1960s, he created numerous documentaries, including his 1967 short “Mafia No!,” about Italian social activist Danilo Dolci, which was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Short Film. Many of these documentaries were created for his own company Mithras Films, the BBC and ITV. 

“When I did my documentaries, I would have dealings with the security services from time to time but that was MI6 not MI5,” Irvin said of his time shooting a documentary on the North Yemen War. “When I came back from Yemen, where I shot a documentary on the Civil War I was debriefed. There wasn’t much I could tell them, but I was never part of that world or paid. I was far too left-wing, for a start, but was anti-apartheid, anti-war, anti-nuclear. They were probably well aware of my leftwing activities, so I was certainly not involved in any hanky-panky.”

In the ’70s, he shifted to television shows and made-for-TV-films. One of the most notable was the BBC miniseries adaptation of John le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” which was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Limited Series. After working with him, Alec Guinness wrote about Irvin that he “admired a director with balls behind the camera!” 

By the 1980s and 1990s, he was fully immersed in Hollywood directing big names like Patrick Swayze (“Next of Kin”), Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Raw Deal”) and Uma Thurman 1991’s (“Robin Hood”). 

“Not many filmmakers directed both Fred Astaire and Patrick Swayze,” Roel Haanen wrote in a 2021 interview. “Or followed up a tender, thoughtful film written by Harold Pinter with an Arnold Schwarzenegger action flick. But John did …”

After his work with Hollywood, he shifted back to indie films in Europe including “Shiner” starring Michael Caine and “The Boys and Girl from County Clare” starring Andrea Corr and Colm Meaney.

Most recently, he worked with producer Claire Evan’s on “Mandela’s Gun,” and at the time of his death was working on a new edit of the political thriller.

In 1970, Irvin married Sophie (née Litchfield) who died of cancer in 1991. Together, John and Sophie had three children; Emilie, Luke, and Amy Irvin, who survive him, and two grandchildren, Finn and Isla Irvin.