William Freshman

William Freshman (1 November 1902, in Sydney, Australia – 1980 in London, England) was an Australian-born actor, scriptwriter and director. He moved to England as a child and worked in the British film industry, writing over 20 screenplays and working as an associate producer at British International Pictures. He also wrote the play The Last of the Ladies.

In 1939 Freshman returned to Australia with his screenwriter wife Lydia Hayward under contract to Cinesound Productions for whom he directed Come Up Smiling (1939). It was announced that he and Hayward would make two more films for the studio, an adaptation of the books Overland Telegraph and Robbery Under Arms, but during World War II feature film production at Cinesound came to a halt and the films were not made. It was reported that he did some work in Dad Rudd, MP (1940). He and his wife returned to England shortly before the outbreak of World War II. He died in London, England, in 1980, aged 77.