Leigh was born on 20 February 1943 to Phyllis Pauline (née Cousin) and Alfred Abraham Leigh, a doctor. Leigh was born at
Outside … 展开

In 1965, Leigh went to work at the Midlands Art Centre in Birmingham as a resident assistant director and started to experiment with the idea that writing and rehearsing could be part of the same process. The Box Play, … 展开

Leigh uses lengthy improvisations developed over several weeks to build characters and storylines for his films. He starts with some ideas of how he thinks things might develop, but does not reveal all his intentions … 展开

Leigh has cited Jean Renoir and Satyajit Ray among his favourite film makers. In a 1991 interview, he also cited Frank Capra, Fritz Lang, Yasujirō Ozu and even Jean-Luc Godard, "until the late '60s." When pressed for British influen… 展开

In 2012, Leigh participated in that year's Sight & Sound film polls. Held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, contemporary directors were asked to select ten films. Leigh named the following ten: … 展开

In September 1973, Leigh married actress Alison Steadman. They have two sons. Steadman appeared in seven of his films and several of his plays, including Wholesome Glory and Abigail's Party. They divorced in 2001… 展开