Leigh, Mike

1943 – He was born on the 20th day of February in Salford, and was educated at Salford Grammar School.

1960 – He gained a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

1965 – He started to devise and direct his own plays, completing nine before the production of Bleak Moments at the Open Space Theatre in 1970.

1977 – Abigail's Party, a quickly taped studio reconstruction of one of Leigh's most successful stage works.

1981 – He ventured into the television arena with a number of made-for-TV films, one of these is “Meantime”.

1984 – His “Four Days in July” gained limited theatrical released.

1988 - Film Four and British Screen agreed to back Leigh in a second theatrical feature. The resulting film was “High Hopes”.

1996 – His subsequent film, “Secrets and Lies” were even more acclaimed.

1999 – He was back this year with “Topsy-Turvy”, a biographical comedy about famed 19th-century opera composers Gilbert and Sullivan.