John Hollingsworth (20 March 1916 – 29 December 1963)[1] was a British orchestral conductor prominent in the concert hall, the ballet and opera theatre, and the film studio.
He was Sir Malcolm Sargent's assistant conductor at The Proms, where he conducted over 60 times including some world and British premieres.
He left Rank in 1949 to become music director of the Central Office of Information, a documentary unit, and in 1950 also became conductor of the Sadler's Wells Ballet.
There were also local premieres of works by Hans Werner Henze, Jacques Ibert, Gordon Jacob, Gian Carlo Menotti, Franz Reizenstein, Humphrey Searle and John Born Veale.
[3] He also did the occasional documentary work, such as Flight of the White Heron (1954), a feature-length documentary about Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to the United States;[4] and Ralph Vaughan Williams's The England of Elizabeth (here on YouTube is a brief film of him rehearsing the orchestra in this music, in the presence of the composer).
[3][4] His later film work included The Devil's Disciple and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), and Don't Bother to Knock (1961), Billy Liar, The Damned, Heavens Above!