On Jan. 5, 2022, famed Scottish Director Bill Bryden died at the age of 79.

Born on April 12, 1942, Bryden trained with Scottish Television before becoming an assistant director at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in 1965. He would then work as work as a director at the Royal Court Theatre from 1967 to 1971 and then the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh from 1972 to 1975.

He also worked as an Associate Director at the National Theatre and as a visiting director in Glasgow and New York.

Throughout his career, Bryden directed several films and theater productions and also went on to direct operas like Wagner’s Parsifal and “Leoš Janáček’s “The Cunning Little Vixen” at the Royal Opera House and “The Silver Tassie” at the English National Opera, London

He was also the Head of Television Drama at BBC Scotland and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1993. In 1985 he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award, the London Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for his direction of the play “The Mysteries.”