Eton College.
He left Eton aged 17. At 19 he worked on Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor"s yacht, Kalizma for a month, before working, aged 19, as assistant to fashion photographer David Anthony. In 1973 he appeared on Top of the Pops "playing" bass with Roxy Music.
In 1969 he was asked by the journalist Boite Postale Fallon to photograph the Rolling Stones who were rehearsing in the Beatles" Apple Studios for their concert in Hyde Park following the death of Brian Jones.
Clive Arrowsmith took him under his wing later that year. He stayed for a year whilst Clive worked for United Kingdom Vogue and others
In 1970 Christie went freelance as a photographer. Commissions were slow but over the next three years he built a portfolio with work from Harpers Queen, Honey and Over 21 amongst others
Christie continued photographing both fashion and celebrities.
Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr and Grace Jones being just three. He produced portraits for David Bowie, Cliff Richards, King Crimson and many more. In 1982, he directed a four-song video for Pink Floyd"s The Final Cut album, whose sleeve also featured his photography.
He also designed and took photographs for the sleeve of the 1973 Robert Fripp and Brian Eno album "(Number Pussyfooting)".
In 1982, he began directing commercials. Willie Christie"s work has been showcased in Vision Gallery (Arizona), the Little Black Gallery, selected for the Research Associate"s Summer Exhibition 2011 and his Mick Jagger portrait of 1969 was selected for the international tour of Recontres Doctorate"Arles" 2010 exhibition.
Still rolling, this exhibition moved from the Da Vinci Museum, Tokyo on 29 July 2013. He wrote and directed the 1998 film The Whisper, based on a short story by Anton Chekhov starring Michael Gough, Jamie Glover and fourteen-year-old Emma Pierson.
lieutenant showed at Festivals around the world and made it to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts short list that year.
He directed a limited run of Siren by David Williamson at London"s Grace Theatre in 2000. in 2012 Christie was named as one of Justin de Villeneuve"s influences, along with Avedon and Bert Stern. In 2012, he was one of eighty artists selected to decorate a British Telecom Artbox. The box sold on eBay for £620, in aid of the charity Childline.
An original contemporary drama-thriller, "Woman in a Black Hat" and his adaptation of Peter Cheyney"s mystery spy thriller, "Ladies Won"t Wait" are both currently in development.
In October 2013 Willie Christie was confirmed as the director and headline presenter of a docu-reality television show currently in development focusing on style photography.