Jump to content

William Cran

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Cran
Born(1945-12-11)11 December 1945
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Died4 June 2025(2025-06-04) (aged 79)
Isleworth, England
Alma materMagdalen College
OccupationDocumentary filmmaker

William Cran (11 December 1945 – 4 June 2025) was an Australian-born English-Canadian documentary filmmaker.

Life and career

[edit]

Cran was born in Hobart, the son of John Cran, a science lecturer, and Jean Holliday, a teacher. At the age of six, he and his family emigrated to England with his parents, settling in London. He attended Magdalen College, graduating in 1968. After graduating, he worked as a trainee for the BBC. Over the years, he rose to the role as producer;[1][2] receiving his first producing credit, in 1974, in an episode of the current affairs documentary programme Panorama.[3]

In 1976, Cran emigrated to Canada, settling in Toronto, Ontario. After emigrating, he worked as a senior producer for the CBC investigative documentary series The Fifth Estate. In 1978, he emigrated to the United States, settling in Boston, Massachusetts, when filmmaker and journalist David Fanning reached out to Cran about his new investigative documentary program World, later renamed to Frontline, in 1983, directing two documentaries of the series's first season.[1][2]

During his years as a documentary filmmaker, Cran directed, produced and wrote for numerous documentaries such as Praise the Lord,[4] The Story of English, The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover,[5] Cuba and Cocaine, From Jesus to Christ, The Commanding Heights, Jihad: The Men and Ideas Behind Al Qaeda, The Prize. Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch and The Godfather of Cocaine.[1][2] He retired in 2014, last directing for the documentary film Lockerbie: What Really Happened?.[6]

Death

[edit]

Cran died on 4 June 2025, of Parkinson's disease at a hospital in Isleworth, at the age of 79.[2][7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Risen, Clay (19 June 2025). "William Cran, Documentarian of Global Issues, Dies at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Murphy, Brian (21 June 2025). "William Cran, wide-ranging documentary eye at 'Frontline,' dies at 79". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  3. ^ "Panorama". Radio Times. Vol. 202. G. Newnes. 174. p. 25.
  4. ^ "U.S. delayed investigation of PTL, documentary says". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 22 January 1988. p. 18. Retrieved 22 June 2025 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  5. ^ "J. Edgar Hoover: Married to the Mob? (Documentary suggests FBI director was blackmailed homosexual)". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. 7 February 1993. p. 207. Retrieved 22 June 2025 – via Newspapers.com. Closed access icon
  6. ^ "Lockerbie: What Really Happened?". Criticker. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  7. ^ "William Cran". ForeverMissed. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Cran&oldid=1297135744"