Peter Chelsom

Although he played leads at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court and the National Theatre before reaching the age of 30, Peter Chelsom cut short his decade-long acting career to concentrate on writing and directing films. His first effort, the short "Treacle" (1988), received considerable international acclaim, but several years would pass before he directed a feature film. Gaining experience at the helm of TV commercials, Chelsom finally realized his ambition with "Hear My Song" (1991), a sentimental, amusing whimsy loosely based on the real-life story of the beloved Irish tenor