Sydney Samuelson was a projectionist before he became an assistant in the Gaumont British News cutting rooms at Lime Grove Studios, working under E. V. H. Emmett [qv], for about eighteen months in 1943-44. He thereafter joined the Colonial Office Film Unit, and went on to become a cameraman and director of documentaries. In February 1952 he was credited as a freelance in the Movietone camera team that filmed ‘FUNERAL OF HIS MAJESTY KING GEORGE VI’ for British Movietone News No.1185, and in April 1952 he was credited in the team for ‘SCOTTISH CUP SEMI-FINALS’ in No.1191A. Both teams also included Samuelson’s brother David Samuelson [qv]. In May 1966 Samuelson and his brother were also credited in the team for ‘MOVIETONE COLOUR REPORT: CONTEST FOR THE CUP’ in British Movietone News No.1928. He formed the Samuelson Film Service in the 1950s, being joined by his brothers David [qv], Michael [qv] and Anthony, which as the Samuelson Group grew to become the world’s largest supplier of audio-visual equipment. He became CBE in 1978 and was knighted in 1995, serving as the first British Film Commissioner 1991-1998.
Sources
J. Ballantyne (ed) ‘Researcher’s Guide to British Newsreels: Vol.II’ (1988), p.34: Information from Peter Hampton, March 1999: Who’s Who 1994: Family information.