Biography

A former schoolmaster at Culham College, Oxfordshire, Pearson abandoned his teaching career when he began to speculate on the educational propensities of the emerging medium of film. In 1913, he embarked on making instructive short films for London Pathé and subsequently founded his own production company. For Gaumont, he produced a series of popular thrillers, having created the character of 'Ultus the Avenger'. Ultus, one of the first-ever super heroes of the screen, was a master of disguise who fought against injustice and was always a step ahead of the police. Around the same time, Pearson also made the first filmed version of Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet (1914). Unable to locate any known actors with the necessary facial characteristics, Pearson cast an unknown accountant named James Bragington (who had never acted a day in his life) in the central role of Sherlock Holmes.

In 1918, Pearson combined forces with Thomas Welsh to form Welsh/Pearson Productions. He directed the cockney actress Betty Balfour in the popular Squibs (1921) series of comedies. He also made a number of idiosyncratic 'comedy-dramas' which examined the human condition. Of these, the patriotic Réveille (1924) was his own personal favorite. With the advent of talking pictures, Pearson continued to work as producer-director on 'quota quickies' until 1937, latterly based at Twickenham. During World War II, he was put in charge of Britain's Colonial Film Unit. A recipient of an OBE in 1951, Pearson was a former President of the Association of British Film Directors and Honorary Fellow of both the Royal Photographic Society and the British Film Academy.