Lindsay Shonteff was born in
Toronto,
Ontario and made his directing, producing, editing and screenwriting debut in 1959 with a Canadian made
Western The Hired Gun/
The Last Gunfighter that he edited in his own home. After the film's release, Shonteff went to England following his friend and fellow Canadian
Sidney J. Furie. Shonteff's debut in Britain was
Devil Doll (1964); Furie was originally scheduled to direct, but was offered a more prestigious film and recommended Shonteff.
Richard Gordon said Furie advised Shonteff throughout the making of the film. Shonteff had to cut the horror tale of a ventriloquist's dummy for an
X rating from the
British Board of Film Censors. This film led to interest from
Columbia Pictures for a contract but Shonteff argued over the matter and the contract did not come through. Shonteff then filmed the "African horror adventure"
Curse of Simba (aka
Curse of the Voodoo) in 1965 for Gordon. The same year, he co-wrote and directed a
James Bond type film for producer S.J.H. "James" Ward,
Licensed to Kill. The film was picked up for American and international release by
Joseph E. Levine; it was re-edited and retitled
The Second Best Secret Agent in the Whole Wide World. Reportedly Shonteff was offered a contract by
20th Century Fox but disagreed on conditions. Shonteff collaborated again with Ward on
Run with the Wind in 1966. He then directed
Harry Alan Towers's
The Million Eyes of Sumuru in 1967. In 1969, Shonteff directed the rarely seen crime film
Clegg, followed in 1970 by the horror film
Night After Night After Night and the cult film
Permissive which explored the world of
groupies. In addition, Shonteff directed the 1971 sex drama
The Yes Girls and the rarely seen crime thriller
The Fast Kill in 1972. He then directed the cult exploitation film
Big Zapper in 1973, and its sequel,
The Swordsman, the following year. With the publicity battle between the rival
James Bonds of
Albert R. Broccoli (
The Spy Who Loved Me) and
Kevin McClory (the projected
James Bond of the Secret Service) in 1977, Shonteff returned to the
secret agent fold with
No. 1 of the Secret Service (originally titled
008 of the Secret Service). He followed this with
Licensed to Love and Kill (1979) and
Number One Gun (1990). He also directed a film adaptation of
Len Deighton's
Spy Story in 1976. ==Later life and death==