Nicholas Hitchon Dies: British Farm Boy Whose Life Was Chronicled In ‘Up’ Documentary Series Was 65

Greg Evans
·2 min read
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Nicholas Hitchon, whose life was chronicled in the celebrated British Up documentary films from a precocious age 7 in 1964 to 63 in the 2019 installment, has died of throat cancer in Madison, Wisconsin, where he was a university professor. He was 65.

His July 23 death was only recently announced on the University of Wisconsin’s website. Hitchon had revealed his cancer battle in the most recent film in the series, 63 Up.

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According to the university post, William Nicholas “Nick” Hitchon was a member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, having joined the faculty in 1982. He had earned his Ph.D. in engineering science the previous year from Oxford University.

But for generations of viewers and fans of the beloved Up series, Hitchon might forever be remembered as the little boy from a farming family in Littondale, England, who, when asked on camera in Seven Up! if he had a girlfriend, politely but firmly responded: “I don’t want to answer that. I don’t answer those kind of questions.”

The film series, which began as a one-off documentary about children from Britain’s various economic classes and endured with sequels every seven years under the guidance of researcher-turned-director Michael Apted, created a unique bond between the public at large and the subjects featured on screen, subjects who literally grew up before viewers’ eyes.

Representing Britain’s rural class, young Hitchon expressed his love for the natural world from the very beginning, growing into a thoughtful and sensitive young, then middle-aged, man. While his fellow child-subjects occasionally stumbled through life, Hitchon proved to be, as Apted himself once said, “one of the success stories.”

Sticking with the film series wasn’t always easy, though, even for the esteemed professor. In a passage from 63 Up quoted in a 2019 Deadline article, Hitchon said: “It’s an incredibly hard thing to be in. I can’t even begin to describe how emotionally draining and wrenching it is just to make the film and do the interviews.”

Hitchon is survived by wife, Cryss, and son, Adam.

Below are highlights of Hitchon’s appearances in some of the films.

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