What Is Ken Loach's Net Worth?
Ken Loach is an English director, producer, and screenwriter who has a net worth of $5 million. Ken Loach is best known for his movies that focus on socialism and social issues, particularly homelessness and labor rights. His early work includes making contributions to the "Wednesday Play" series on BBC Television. His documentaries for the show include "In Two Minds," "Cathy Come Home," and "Up the Junction." While working with BBC Television, Loach started diving into feature films, directing 1967's "Poor Cow" and 1969's "Kes," which were both successful. Ken is credited on dozens of films, including "Looks and Smiles" (1981), "Hidden Agenda" (1990), "Riff-Raff" (1991), "Ladybird, Ladybird" (1994), "Carla's Song" (1996), "The Navigators" (2001), "Sweet Sixteen" (2002), "Tickets" (2005), "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (2006), "Looking for Eric" (2009), "The Angels' Share" (2012), and "The Spirit of '45" (2013). Fifteen of Loach's films have been in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which is a record.
Early Life
Ken Loach was born Kenneth Charles Loach on June 17, 1936, in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. He is the son of John Loach and Vivien Hamlin. Ken studied at King Edward VI Grammar School, and when he was 19 years old, he began serving in the Royal Air Force. He later studied law at St Peter's College, Oxford, earning a third-class degree. Ken was a member of the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club, and he directed a 1959 outdoor production of the Ben Jonson play "Bartholomew Fair" for Stratford's Shakespeare Memorial Theatre and played the role of Dan Jordan Knockem.
Career
After graduating from Oxford, Loach took a job with BBC Television as a director, contributing to the network's "Wednesday Play" anthology series. His first feature film was 1967's "Poor Cow," and he followed it with "Kes" in 1969. "Kes" earned Ken a Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best British Screenplay. In the '70s and '80s, he directed Family Life" (1971), "Black Jack" (1979), "Looks and Smiles" (1981), and "Fatherland" (1986). "Family Life" won three awards at the 1972 Berlin International Film Festival, and "Black Jack" earned a FIPRESCI Award at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. Loach also directed the 1975 BBC serial "Days of Hope," which earned him a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Drama Series/Serial. In the '90s, he helmed "Hidden Agenda" (1990), "Riff-Raff"(1991), "Raining Stones" (1993), "Ladybird, Ladybird" (1994), "Land and Freedom" (1995), "Carla's Song" (1996), and "My Name Is Joe" (1998).
"Hidden Agenda" received a Jury Prize and a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival. "Riff-Raff" earned Ken two awards at the Valladolid International Film Festival and a FIPRESCI Prize at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. "Raining Stones" won an "Evening Standard" British Film Award for Best Film and a Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and "Ladybird, Ladybird" received a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin International Film Festival. "Land and Freedom" won two awards at the Cannes Film Festival and was named Best Film at the European Film Awards. For "Carla's Song," Loach received The President of the Italian Senate's Gold Medal at the Venice Film Festival. "My Name Is Joe" was ranked #91 on the British Film Institute's 1999 list of the Top 100 British films. Next, Ken directed films such as "Sweet Sixteen" (2002), "Ae Fond Kiss…" (2004), "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (2006), "Looking for Eric" (2009), "The Angels' Share"(2012), "I, Daniel Blake" (2016), and "The Old Oak" (2023).
"Sweet Sixteen" won a British Independent Film Award for Best British Independent Film, and Loach received a FIPRESCI Prize at the European Film Awards. "Ae Fond Kiss…" won a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and Prize of the Guild of German Art House Cinemas at the Berlin International Film Festival, and "The Wind That Shakes the Barley" received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the Best Irish Film (Audience Award) at the Irish Film & Television Awards. "Looking for Eric" earned the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, and "The Angels' Share" won a Jury Prize at the festival. "I, Daniel Blake" earned numerous awards, including a BAFTA Award for Best British Film, a César Award for Best Foreign Film, and an "Evening Standard" British Film Award for Best Film. "The Old Oak" won Audience Awards at the Calgary International Film Festival, Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, and Valladolid International Film Festival.
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Personal Life
Ken married Lesley Ashton on July 17, 1962, and they have welcomed daughters Emma and Hannah and sons Stephen, Jim, and Nicholas together. Sadly, Nicholas was killed in a car accident at the age of 5. Jim grew up to be a film and television director, and he won a BAFTA Award for Drama Series for "Save Me" in 2021. Loach is a secularist and a patron of Humanists UK (formerly known as the British Humanist Association), and he has stated, "Freedom of belief – or non-belief – is a fundamental human right. Religious creeds and doctrine should play no part in our public life. In particular, the indoctrination of children in separate faith schools is pernicious and divisive. I strongly support Humanists UK."
In 2023, Pope Francis invited Ken and many other artists to attend the 50th anniversary of the Vatican Museums' Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art. Loach has received honorary doctorates from Oxford University, the University of Birmingham, the University of Bath, Keele University, Staffordshire University, and Heriot-Watt University. He turned down an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1977, and he told the "Radio Times," "It's all the things I think are despicable: patronage, deferring to the monarchy and the name of the British Empire, which is a monument of exploitation and conquest. I turned down the OBE because it's not a club you want to join when you look at the villains who've got it." In 2009, Loach publicity advocated for the Palestine Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Awards and Nominations
Loach has won more than 120 awards for his work, including three BAFTA Awards, three British Independent Film Awards, more than a dozen Cannes Film Festival awards, three César Awards, three European Film Awards, two London Critics Circle Film Awards, three San Sebastián International Film Festival awards, eight Valladolid International Film Festival awards, nine Venice Film Festival awards, and a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award. Ken has received several lifetime achievement or career achievement awards, and his 1969 film "Kes" was ranked #4 on "Time Out's" list of the best British films ever made and #7 on the British Film Institute's list of the greatest British films of the 20th century.
