Paul Almond, the director of the original Seven Up! documentary, has died aged 83. His son Matthew said his death was the result of complications following a heart attack.

Seven Up!, made in 1964, became his most famous work, inspiring the Up series of films directed by Michael Apted, one of Almond’s research team. Almond, along with producer Tim Hewat, decided to film a group of seven-year-old children, asking them for their feelings about love, family, class and their hopes in life.

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With its subjects picked from a range of deprived and privileged backgrounds, it was originally intended to highlight class division in the UK. Almond reportedly disliked the title of the film, fearing it would be confused with the soft drink of the same name. Apted has since caught up with the children for a new film every seven years, most recently for 56 Up in 2012, expanding the class study into a unique series of portraits.

Following Seven Up!, Almond returned to his native Canada, where he made further TV shows, including a version of Macbeth starring Sean Connery. He segued into making feature films, including a trio of works with his wife, Oscar-nominated actor Geneviève Bujold. Later in life he turned to writing novels, and is survived by his third wife Joan as well as his son, three stepsons, a stepdaughter and eight grandchildren.

With its affecting and intimate look at the lives of ordinary people, the Up series has become hugely popular and celebrated. US film critic Roger Ebert counted it amongst his 10 favourite films of all time, while there are traces of its methodology in Richard Linklater’s award-winning 2014 film Boyhood, which tracked the growth of a boy over 12 years.