Born in London, Anthony Pelissier was the son of actress Fay Compton
and producer Arthur Pelissier. His acting career started in the 1930s.
Finding film production more to his liking, Pelissier earned his first
writing credit in 1937 before switching to film direction in 1949. His
directorial career only spanned five years and most of his efforts were
literally adaptations: H.G. Wells' The
History of Mr. Polly (1949), D.H. Lawrence's The
Rocking Horse Winner (1949), and a segment of Somerset Maugham's
portmanteau Encore
(1951). His final film was Ealing’s television satire Meet
Mr Lucifer (1953) the following year. Pelissier went on to head
the experimental production unit at the BBC.
