Alan Clarke

Alan John Clarke (28 October 1935 – 24 July 1990) was an English television and film director, producer and writer.

Most of Clarke's output was for television rather than cinema and his subject matter tended towards social realism, with deprived or oppressed communities as a frequent setting.

A number of his works achieved notoriety and widespread criticism from the conservative end of the political spectrum, including Scum (1977), dealing with the subject of borstals (youth prisons), which was banned by the BBC, and subsequently remade by Clarke as a feature film released in 1979.

A heavy smoker and drinker, Clarke died on 24 July 1990 after suffering from lung cancer. He was 54.

Source: Wikipedia