Sir Michael Balcon (1896-1977) b. Birmingham, England.

Sir Michael Balcon Balcon was born in Birmingham and educated at George Dixon Grammar School, Edgbaston. After WWI he started in films as a distributor, then formed Victory Motion Pictures with Victor Saville and produced his first film (Women to Women). In the early 1920′s, he launched Alfred Hitchcock’s career and built up a big annual production programme of sound films for Gainsborough and Gaumont-British. Head of MGM English production, 1936-38, then in charge of production at Ealing. Knighted 1948. A regular and committed spokesman for the British film industry, especially in the 1940s. After Ealing, produced some films independently Sammy Going South (1962), and helped form Bryanston Films, a group of independent film-makers including several ex-Ealing colleagues. After a frustrating period as Chairman of British Lion (1964-68), became Chairman of the British Film Institute’s Experimental Film Fund, retiring 1972.