Ken Loach
English retired filmmaker (born 1936)
Why this is trending
Interest in “Ken Loach” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-02-25.
Categorised under Entertainment, this article fits a familiar pattern. Entertainment topics frequently surge on Wikipedia following major media events, premieres, or unexpected celebrity developments.
By monitoring millions of daily Wikipedia page views, GlyphSignal helps you spot cultural moments as they happen and understand the stories behind the numbers.
Key Takeaways
- Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retired English filmmaker.
- Loach's film Kes (1969) was voted the seventh greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film Institute.
- He also holds the record for the most films screened in the main competition at Cannes with 15.
- He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 19.
- As a member of the Experimental Theatre Club, he directed a 1959 open-air production of Bartholomew Fair for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, in which he also starred as Dan Jordan Knockem.
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retired English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (Poor Cow, 1967), homelessness (Cathy Come Home, 1966), and labour rights (Riff-Raff, 1991, and The Navigators, 2001).
Loach's film Kes (1969) was voted the seventh greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film Institute. Two of his films, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) and I, Daniel Blake (2016), received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making him one of only ten filmmakers to win the award twice. He also holds the record for the most films screened in the main competition at Cannes with 15.
Early life
Kenneth Charles Loach was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire on 17 June 1936, the son of Vivien (née Hamlin) and John Loach. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and joined the Royal Air Force at the age of 19. He later read law at St Peter's College, Oxford, graduating with a third-class degree. As a member of the Experimental Theatre Club, he directed a 1959 open-air production of Bartholomew Fair for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, in which he also starred as Dan Jordan Knockem.
Content sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0
