James Hill (British director) Donald Houston, Robert Morley, Anthony Quayle, Barry Jones and Judi Dench. 1965 was also the year of "Born Free", an international hit starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna, based on the autobiographical book by Joy Adamson about Elsa the Lioness. In an interview with Doris Martin, writer Sid Cole reminisced: “On "Born Free" I remember getting a card from Jimmy Hill saying he was in Kenya entirely surrounded by lions. (laughter).” Filmed on location in Kenya over a period of 9 months, with George Adamson as technical advisor, the shoot had a profound effect on the participants. Closely associated with
Mara the Lioness earlier when they had attempted to release her back into the wild. Eventually only Ugas was released into the Meru Game Reserve. It was decided that Mara was too tame and she and the other lionesses should be relocated to Whipsnade Park. Just prior to her departure Mara gave birth to male and female twin cubs, sired by Ugas during the filming of "Born Free". In 1966, Irene Grindlay wrote a book titled "Velvet Paws" which detailed the life of Mara up to and including her appearance in the movie "Born Free". ""We have no reason to reproach ourselves. We