A PROLIFIC screenwriter, director and producer born in Kinmel Bay has died at the age of 83.
Jimmy Sangster, who was responsible for some of the British film industry’s most iconic horror movies, died on August 19.
Born James Henry Kinmel Sangster in December 1927, the screenwriter was the first registered male birth in the town of Kinmel Bay.
He is survived by his second wife, the actress Mary Peach, and his son, James.
Known as ‘Jim the Nasty’ to colleagues and fans, Sangster wrote adaptations of gothic horrors for the legendary Hammer Horror movie studios during its 1950s heyday starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.
The company came to rely on his adaptations of horror classics including the The Curse of Frankenstein, the first of Hammer’s successful crop of horror films.
He followed this with similarly economical versions of Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959).
Along with director Terence Fisher, production designer Bernard Robinson and cinematographer Jack Asher, Sangster was a crucial part of the Hammer team.
Seemingly immune to claims of vulgarity from critics, the industrious Sangster conjured hit after hit for the studio after joining in 1956.
By 1960, however, Sangster had tired of horror and went on to write a series of suspense thrillers for the studio including
Maniac (1963), Paranoiac (1964), Nightmare (1964), Hysteria (1965) and Crescendo (1970) and The Nanny (1965) and The Anniversary (1968) for actress Bette Davis.
Hammer came calling again in the 1970s while Sangster was living in Beverly Hills, asking him to direct The Horror of Frankenstein, described by him as one of the happiest experiences of his career.
Sangster remained in Los Angeles where he wrote episodes of crime series Ironside.
His films however became less frequent, with The Devil and Max Devlin (1981) for Disney being his last major production until 2000 when one of his old scripts was dusted off for the German horror film Flashback - earning him the distinction of having had -screenplays produced in every decade since the 50s.