Director, Producer

(b. February 24, 1920 Port Perry, Ontario - d. December 4, 1972 Montreal, Quebec)

Julian Biggs joined the National Film Board as a writer in 1951, but soon turned to directing and producing. He was responsible for several of the early NFB dramas, including The Son (1952), the Perspectiveseries and TheHistory Makers series. He served as Director of English Production in the late sixties and produced such seminal films of the era as John Spotton’s Buster Keaton Rides Again (1965), Don Owen’s High Steel (1965) and Notes for a Film About Donna & Gail (1966), Gerald Potteron’s The Railrodder (1965) and Bill Mason’s Paddle to the Sea (1966), which earned Biggs an Academy Award® nomination.

His most notable films as director include 23 Skidoo (1954) and A Little Fellow from Gambo – The Joey Smallwood Story (1970). He won eight Canadian Film Awards and produced more than one hundred films between 1953 and 1970.

Film and video work includes

Oyster Man, 1950 (co-director, with Jean Palardy)
The Son, 1952 (director; writer)
With the Canadians in Korea, 1952 (director; writer)
Eye Witness No. 57 (co-director with Grant McLean)
Herring Hunt, 1953 (director)
Let's Talk About Films, 1953 (director; writer; producer)
Security Depends on You, 1953 (director)
Aviation Medicine, 1954 (director)
Basic Rescue No. 1: Five Basic Knots, 1954 (co-producer with David Bairstow)
Basic Rescue No. 2: The Use of Levers, 1954 (co-producer with David Bairstow)
Basic Rescue No. 3: The Use of Jacks, 1954 (co-producer with David Bairstow)
Basic Rescue No. 4: The Single Ladder, 1954 (co-producer with David Bairstow)
Basic Rescue No. 5: The Extension Ladder, 1954 (co-producer with David Bairstow)
College in the Wilds, 1954 (director)
The Doll Factory, 1954 (director)
Dresden Story, 1954 (director; producer with Gordon Burwash, Grant McLean; editor)
Frontier College, 1954 (director; co-writer with William Stephenson)
Javanese Dancing, 1954 (producer)
The Magnificent, 1954 (director)
Pilgrim Geese, 1954 (producer)
Story of a Newspaper, 1954 (director)
Carnival, 1955 (director)
Chickens by the Million, 1955 (producer)
Dwarf Apple, 1955 (host)
Fight Against Blight, 1955 (producer)
Getting Your Money's Worth in Eggs, 1955 (producer)
Holly, 1955 (host)
Horse Ranch, 1955 (host)
Important Mr. Rat, 1955 (host)
Insect Lab, 1955 (host)
Maritime Montage, 1955 (co-director with Rollo Gamble)
Packboard & Tumpline, 1955 (producer)
Raising the Hogs the Market Wants, 1955 (director; producer)
Raw Material, 1955 (director)
Soil Test, 1955 (host)
Sunflowers, 1955 (host)
Why Grow Fat Hogs?, 1955 (director; producer)
Are People Sheep?, 1956 (director)
Back Into the Sun, 1956 (producer)
The Cage, 1956 (producer)
Canadians Abroad, 1956 (producer)
Chair of Gold, 1956 (producer)
The Deserter, 1956 (director)
Embassy, 1956 (producer)
Escape, 1956 (producer)
Fighter Wing, 1956 (producer)
Go to Blazes, 1956 (producer)
The Longer Trail, 1956 (producer)
Man of America, 1956 (producer)
Monkey on the Back, 1956 (director; editor)
Morning Incident, 1956 (producer)
The Nativity Cycle, 1956 (producer)
Night Children, 1956 (producer)
Sable Island, 1956 (producer)
The Shepherd, 1956 (director; producer)
The Visit, 1956 (producer)
Woman Alone, 1956 (director)
The Yellow Leaf, 1956 (producer)
Aye Follow Your Own, 1957 (director)
The Barrier, 1957 (producer)
Capital City, 1957 (producer)
Crossroads, 1957 (producer)
Double Verdict, 1957 (producer)
Encounter at Trinity, 1957 (producer)
Fires of Envy, 1957 (producer)
The Ghost That Talked, 1957 (producer)
Haiti, 1957 (producer)
The Happy Fugitive, 1957 (producer)
The Harvest, 1957 (producer)
Howard, 1957 (producer)
Joe and Roxy, 1957 (producer)
A Letter from Oxford, 1957 (director)
None But the Lonely, 1957 (producer)
One Summer's Day, 1957 (producer)
The Street, 1957 (producer)
The Suspects, 1957 (producer)
Test Pilot, 1957 (producer)
The Trap Thief, 1957 (producer)
Who Is Sylvia?, 1957 (producer)
The Whole World Over, 1957 (writer; producer)
Wolfe and Montcalm, 1957 (producer)
Conquest of Cold, 1958 (director)
The Decision, 1958 (director)
Fire in Town, 1958 (director)
Journey from Etsa, 1958 (director)
Northwest Neighbours, 1958 (director)
People of the Peace, 1958 (director)
School for the Stage, 1958 (director)
1,500,000 of Us, 1959 (director)
Canada: World Citizen, 1959 (director)
The Good Old Days, 1959 (host)
Grassland Farming, 1959 (producer)
It's a Woman's World, 1959 (host)
Lord Elgin: Voice of the People, 1959 (director)
Prairie Bonanza, 1959 (director)
Report on Cancer, 1959 (director)
U.N. in the Classroom, 1959 (producer)
On Prescription Only, 1960 (director)
This Electronic World, 1960 (director)
Charles Tupper: The Big Man, 1961 (producer)
Courtship, 1961 (producer with Gordon Burwash)
Four Teachers, 1961 (producer with Gordon Burwash)
John A. Macdonald: The Impossible Idea, 1961 (producer)
Joseph Howe: The Tribune of Nova Scotia, 1961 (director; producer)
Lord Durham, 1961 (producer)
Louis-Joseph Papineau: The Demi-God, 1961 (producer)
Robert Baldwin: A Matter of Principle, 1961 (producer)
William Lyon Mackenzie: A Friend to His Country, 1961 (director; producer)
Alexander Galt: The Stubborn Idealist, 1962 (director; producer)
Georges-Etienne Cartier: The Lion of Québec, 1962 (producer)
Canada: Animal Vaccine, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Beam Therapy, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Beef Cattle, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Calf Leather, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Fibres, Yarns and Fabrics, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Heating Units, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Human Vaccine, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Hydraulic Tracing, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Low Temperature Gas, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Pre-fab Homes, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Swine, 1963 (producer)
Canada: Tobacco, 1963 (producer)
Canada: White Goods, 1963 (producer)
The Head Men, 1963 (co-director with John Howe)
Three Apprentices, 1963 (co-director with John Howe)
Three Grandmothers, 1963 (co-director with John Howe)
Wedding Day, 1963 (co-director with Hector Lemieux, John Howe)
23 Skidoo, 1964 (director; producer; editor)
Phoebe, 1964 (producer)
Portrait of the Artist, 1964 (co-director with Gordon Burwash, John Howe)
The Stage to Three, 1964 (director; producer)
Three Country Boys, 1964 (co-director with Gordon Burwash, John Kemeny)
Three Fishermen, 1964 (co-director with John Kemeny)
John Hirsch: A Portrait of a Man and a Theatre, 1965 (producer)
Octopus Hunt, 1965 (producer)
The Railrodder, 1965 (producer)
The Way of Science, 1965 (producer)
Each Day That Comes, 1966 (producer)
Anti-submarine Warfare: Maritime Briefing, 1967 (director)
A Little Fellow from Gambo: The Joey Smallwood Story, 1970 (director; writer; producer)