The family weren't exactly thrilled when Ronnie Wilson got engaged to my cousin Gay Cameron in 1964. They considered him to be a small-time Canadian actor with no foreseeable future. Ronnie, who has died aged 84, couldn't have proved them more wrong. Having trained as a television director, he went on to make blockbusters including The Pallisers, To Serve Them All My Days and Frost in May – series that enthralled the whole spectrum of television viewers.
His tastes were subtle and his favourite author was Alice Munro. Although he had been born on Vancouver Island, and lived in Canada until he was 22, he came across as impeccably English, with no perceptible accent. But, in his 1994 adaptation of her early stories, Lives of Girls and Women, Ronnie caught his compatriot Munro's small-town world of rural Canada perfectly. It was, in my opinion, the best film he made.
Ronnie was an actors' director. Having found the person to play a particular role, he fought for their casting even if they were untried and unknown. He gave several now famous names, such as Daniel Day Lewis and Jeremy Irons, their break. Actors adored him. His skill lay in listening to them and sewing their visions into his painstakingly constructed whole. After retiring, he spent several years teaching at RADA, nurturing new talent.
He was a man of few words. He joked that the reason he had married Gay was so that she could do the talking. When he did speak, however, what he had to say was invariably witty, warm and succinct. His opinion on any film or play or television production, particularly the performances, couldn't be faulted. He was entirely himself. He didn't fall into any stereotypes.
As Gay described it, Ronnie's death could have been choreographed by himself. He was in the sea on a glorious summer's day with light dancing on the waves and the Needles in the distance when he had a fatal heart attack. It was as if he'd called cut at the perfect moment.
Ronnie's was an exceptionally happy marriage. He is survived by Gay, his children Charlie and Fanny, and two grandsons.
