ML-H’s long career began when he was 16 and a young actor at the Stratford Connecticut Shakespeare Festival. He had one line in ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’ Then a couple of years later, he went to Oxford University, where he majored in London Night Clubs, which did not earn him a degree.
He acted again in Orson Welles’ theatre version of ‘Chimes at Midnight.’
Shortly after, he went to work in Irish Television as a floor-manager for three years and then, through a combination of ambition, guile and luck, found himself, at the age of 24, in London, directing the best TV RnR show ever, ‘Ready Steady Go!’ (soon to be the subject of a comprehensive book published by BMG ).
Then videos for The Beatles, The Rolling Stones’ first two, ‘JJ Flash’ and ‘Child of the Moon,’ and more for the next 15 years, and The Who, their first, ‘Happy Jack.’ Then ‘The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus’ and The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be.’
Then he started doing TV dramas, was nominated for 4 BAFTA awards, winning one as Co-director of ‘Brideshead Revisited.’
Theatre: Tony nomination for ‘Whose Life Is It Anyway.’ ‘Agnes of God’ ran for two years on Broadway. The first production of Larry Kramer’s hand grenade of a play about Aids at the New York Public Theatre.
He wrote and directed the movie ‘The Object of Beauty,’ starring John Malkovich, in one of his quieter performances, and Andie MacDowell.
He has had shows of his paintings and drawings in Los Angeles and London and another opened in Paris in October.
His first memoir, ‘Luck and Circumstance,’ was published by AA Knopf. He is currently writing a second.