John Paddy Carstairs

Biography

Writer-director John Paddy Carstairs was born Nelson Keys, the son of actor Nelson Keys and the brother of producer Anthony Nelson Keys, in London, England, in 1910. Beginning his career as an assistant cameraman, he worked his way up to screenwriter and made his directorial debut in 1933. While never at the front rank of British directors, he consistently turned out solid, well-crafted--and, more importantly, successful--films that kept him in the director's chair for the next 29 years. In 1953 he was put at the helm of a Norman Wisdom comedy, Trouble in Store (1953), although he wasn't particularly known as a comedy director. Nevertheless, the film was a huge hit in the UK--Wisdom, like most British comics, never caught on in the US--and Carstairs became known as the go-to director for new screen comedians. He made a string of Wisdom comedies, in addition to films for such up-and-comers as Tommy Steele, Frankie Howerd, Bob Monkhouse and Ronald Shiner. While they may not have achieved critical acclaim, audiences nevertheless liked them and, for the most part, they made a potful of money. After making The Devil's Agent (1962), a spy thriller, Carstairs left the film industry to pursue his two main passions, writing and painting. He died in London, age 60, in 1970.