William Campbell Rough Bryden (12 April 1942 – 5 January 2022) was a Scottish stage and film director and screenwriter.

Early life and career

He worked as a trainee with Scottish Television before becoming assistant director at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, in 1965. He then worked as a director at the Royal Court Theatre (1967–1971), the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh (1972–1975), Associate Director at the National Theatre (1975–1985); and as a visiting director in Glasgow and New York. In 1990, he directed Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen, at the Royal Opera House. He was Head of Television Drama at BBC Scotland (1984-1993) and has also done other work for film and television, as screenwriter, director and executive producer.

Personal life and death

In 1970 he married the Hon. Deborah Morris, a potter, who was a daughter of IOC President Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin. They had two children, Dillon and Mary Kate. The couple divorced in 1988. In the same year, he met actress Angela Douglas at a dinner party arranged by mutual friend Marsha Hunt. They lived together in west London and were married at City Hall, New York City, in February 2009. National Life Stories conducted an oral history interview (C1316/11) with Bill Bryden in 2009 for its Legacy of the English Stage Company collection held by the British Library. Bryden died on 5 January 2022, at the age of 79.

Honours

Bryden was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993.

Work

Film director

Writer

Theatre director

Opera director

Awards and nominations