John Irvin, British film-maker who directed Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, dies aged 86

The director’s BBC hit opened the door to Hollywood action films including Hamburger Hill, The Dogs of War and Raw Deal

John Irvin, the British film-maker who directed the Bafta-winning BBC miniseries Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , as well as films including Hamburger Hill, The Dogs of War and Raw Deal, has died aged 86.

Irvin died “peacefully at home” on 11 August, surrounded by his family, his producer Claire Evans confirmed to the Guardian.

Over a 50-year career that spanned TV, documentaries and action films, Irvin was known for his versatility, working with everyone from Fred Astaire to Arnold Schwarzenegger. His most famous work was Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the John le Carré adaptation starring Alec Guinness as the spy George Smiley; Guinness once wrote of his admiration of Irvin, “a director with balls behind the camera!”

Born in 1940 in Wallasey, Cheshire, Irvin started out as a student at the London Film School and worked at British Movietone News. In 1963 he released his first film, the documentary Gala Day, and a documentary short, Inheritance, which was narrated by Richard Burton and won Irvin his first Bafta.

After he documented the North Yemen war, Irvin said MI6 took an interest in his work but he was never formally enlisted as a spy. “I was far too left wing, for a start, but was anti-apartheid, anti-war, anti-nuclear. They were probably well aware of my leftwing activities, so I was certainly not involved in any hanky-panky,” he said in a 2021 interview.

Irvin directed several short films for the BBC and ITV, including 1969’s The Peasants Revolt, starring Anthony Hopkins in his first TV role. In the 1970s he moved into TV drama, directing The Nearly Man, Hard Times starring Timothy West, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy with Guinness, Ian Richardson, Patrick Stewart and Beryl Reid. The miniseries won two Baftas from six nominations and was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding limited series.

The success of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy opened the door to Hollywood, with Irvin directing The Dogs of War (1980) starring Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger; the horror film Ghost Story (1981) starring Fred Astaire; Champions (1984) starring John Hurt; Turtle Diary (1985) starring Ben Kingsley, Glenda Jackson and Michael Gambon; Raw Deal (1986) starring Schwarzenegger; Hamburger Hill (1987) starring Don Cheadle and Dylan McDermott; and Next of Kin (1989) starring Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson.

In 1991 Irvin directed Robin Hood with Patrick Bergin and a 20-year-old Uma Thurman; the film was deliberately commissioned as a rival to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner. While Irvin’s film was released two months before Costner’s, the latter was a megahit at the box office. “It was very much a stand-alone film with the aim of giving Kevin Costner’s version a good kicking if we could,” Irvin told the Guardian in May . “The studio wanted to go immediately because they wanted to pre-empt the Costner … I didn’t get involved in that mess, I just put my head down. Politics were left to the producers and executives.”

In the 2000s, Irvin focused on independent cinema, directing films such as Shiner (2000) with Michael Caine, The Moon And The Stars (2006) with Alfred Molina and Jonathan Pryce, and The Garden Of Eden (2008) with Jack Huston, Mena Suvari and Richard E Grant.

Irvin’s final film was 2016’s Mandela’s Gun , a biopic of Nelson Mandela focused on his experience as a guerrilla fighter for the African National Congress. Irvin was working on a new cut of the film at the time of his death.

Irvin is survived by his three children, Emilie, Luke and Amy, and two grandchildren.