The director of the Beatles’ Grammy winning Anthology documentary, has passed away at the age of 73 years old on November, 22nd as confirmed by his daughter. He spent five years on the eight part series which was first aired in 1995 and featured the previously unfinished John Lennon songs “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” as new Beatles songs. He also did work on the U.K. 80s music TV show The Tube, on several projects along with Paul McCartney and a documentary about George Harrison’s movie Shanghai Surprise.
While confirming his death, Wonfor’s daughter Sam stated, “He was a one-off – a huge presence with a heart to match. His warmth, humor and encyclopedic capacity for remembering jokes of all qualities ensured people who met him rarely forgot him – and that has been borne out by the wave of wonderful messages and tributes we’ve received since his passing. He loved what he did and we’re so very grateful he got to continue doing it to the end.”
Back in 2018 Wonfor told an audience at the Newcastle Film Festival that he had “welled up and cried” after McCartney called to tell him he was wanted for the Anthology project. He stated, “I was at my dad’s and it was Paul McCartney who rang up, and he says, ‘Hello there, you alright? … I was talking to a mate of yours last night.’ I went, ‘Who the hell does he know that I know?’ He says, ‘A little guy called George Harrison. I didn’t know you’d worked with him – but then again, he didn’t know you were working with me!’”
He went on to say they had “talked long into the night” before McCartney said, “We want to do some work with the history of the Beatles, and you’re that man. What should I do, ’63 or ’64?” Wonfor asked. To which McCartney replied: “Don’t be a twat – you’re doing all of it!”
Wonfor also said in 2014 that, “It’s always a pleasure to look back on my time doing the Anthology and I’m always happy to share some stories from the five years we spent making it in London, Working with the Beatles was a dream come true for me. I queued for days to get a ticket to see them at Newcastle City Hall in the ’60s and I don’t think I’ll ever get over getting [the] call from Paul McCartney.”
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