One of the emblematic Anglo-Saxon figures of the last half of the century, British actor Michael York, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award offered to a personality from the European cinema at the 10th edition of Transilvania International Film Festival. After Claudia Cardinale, Catherine Deneuve or Franco Nero, York will also be one of the honored guests of the Cluj-Napoca based film festival, where the audience will be able to meet him during a special screening.
Performances such as the ones from Cabaret (d. Bob Fosse, 1972); D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (d. Richard Lester, 1973); Count Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express (d. Sidney Lumet, 1974) have propelled him on the European film scene and endeared him to generations of viewers. Born on March 27, 1942, in Fulmer – England, Michael York attended the Oxford University Dramatic Society (he graduated Oxford 1964), and owing to entering Laurence Olivier's Theatre Company, he met the Italian film director Franco Zefirelli, the one who would give him two of the most important parts played by York before 1070: the role of Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew (1967) - his debut, as well as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1968) – the first important role of his career. The same year he made his debut in a feature, York played in Accident, directed by Joseph Losey, winner of the Special Prize of the Jury in Cannes 1967. The Island of Doctor Moreau (d. Don Taylor), in which he plays alongside Burt Lancaster; Jesus of Nazareth (d. Franco Zefirelli), in which he stars together with Christopher Plummer, Laurence Olivier, Anthony Quinn and Claudia Cardinale – winner of the 2009 Transilvania IFF Lifetime Achievement Award and the films in the Austin Powers series are some of the films in which Michael York played memorable performances.
Owner of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 2002, nominated for the Emmy Awards in 2001 for an Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (The Lot) and for the Saturn Award for Best Actor in 1978 (The Island of Doctor Moreau), Michael York's career comprises of more than 131 feature films, series and TV movies, including guest appearances in some of the most popular recent TV productions, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, Justice League or Gilmore Girls. In 1987 he was a member in the Official Competition Jury of Venice International Film Festival, and in 2002 he received from one of the most prestigious film festivals in Europe the Town of Karlovy Vary Award.
