Ken Annakin

Kenneth Cooper "Ken" Annakin, OBE (August 10, 1914 - April 22, 2009) was a prolific English film director.

He became known for a series of Walt Disney adventures, including The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), The Sword and the Rose (1953), Third Man on the Mountain (1959), and Swiss Family Robinson (1960), which Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy E. Disney, considered "one of the greatest family adventure films of all time and a favourite for generations of moviegoers".

Annakin was made one of the few Disney Legends by The Walt Disney Company in March 2002. He is only the second film director to be so honoured. He was also awarded an OBE the same year for services to the film industry and received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Hull University.

Trivia

 * Claims were made that George Lucas took the name for Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars from his friend and fellow film director; however, Lucas' publicist denied this following Annakin's death in 2009.