Disney Live-Action Director Ken Annakin Dies

Ken Annakin, a prolific director who helmed SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON and other Disney classics, died Wednesday in Beverly Hills, according to a THE LOS ANGELES TIMES obituary. He was 94.

British-born Annakin got his start in the early 1940s doing war documentaries and made nearly 50 films in his five-decade career. He suffered a stroke and a heart attack in February.

Annakin directed Disney's THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN in 1952, followed by THE SWORD AND THE ROSE the following year and THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN in 1959 before helming SWISS FAMILY in 1960.

Annakin and co-writer Jack Davies got an Oscar nomination in 1966 for their original screenplay for THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES.

-- By News Editor Annemarie Moody