Anthony Minghella

Infobox actor
name = Anthony Minghella CBE


caption = Minghella in 2003
birthdate = birth date|1954|1|6|df=yes
birthplace = Ryde, Isle of Wight, England
deathdate = death date and age|2008|03|18|1954|1|6|df=yes
deathplace = London, England
yearsactive = 1981—2008
occupation = Director, producer, screenwriter, and actor
spouse = Carolyn Choa
academyawards = Best Director
1996 "The English Patient"
baftaawards = Best Original Screenplay
1991 "Truly Madly Deeply"
Best Adapted Screenplay
1996 "The English Patient"
Best Film
1996 "The English Patient"
LA Britannia Award
2006 Artistic Excellence in Directing
goldenglobeawards = Best Motion Picture - Drama
1996 "The English Patient"
awards = NBR Award for Best Director
1999 "The Talented Mr. Ripley"
NBR Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
2003 "Cold Mountain"

DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement
1997 "The English Patient"

Anthony Minghella CBE (January 6, 1954 — March 18, 2008) was an Academy Award-winning English film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007.

Biography

Early life

Minghella was born on the Isle of Wight at Ryde, the son of Gloria and Edward Minghella, ice cream factory owners. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/67/Anthony-Minghella.html Anthony Minghella Biography (1954-) ] ] His father was Italian/Scottish and his mother came from Leeds; her ancestors originally came from Valvori, a small village in the Lazio region of central Italy. Minghella attended Sandown Grammar School and St John's College (Portsmouth). He was a graduate of the University of Hull, where he completed undergraduate and postgraduate courses, but eventually abandoned his doctoral thesis.

Career

His first films as a director was 50ms long A Little like Drowning in 1978. His first piece of produced work was a 1975 stage adaptation of Gabriel Josipovici's "Mobius the Stripper"; however, it was his 1985 piece "Whale Music" that kickstarted his career. [ [http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/Anthony_Minghella/190042 Anthony Minghella at Hollywood.com ] ] He made his directorial debut with a double bill of Samuel Beckett's "Play" and "Happy Days". During the 1980s, he worked in television, starting as a runner on "Magpie" before moving into script editing the children's drama series "Grange Hill" for the BBC and later writing "The Storyteller" series for Jim Henson. He also wrote several episodes of the ITV detective drama "Inspector Morse" and an episode of long-running ITV drama "Boon". His 1986 play "Made in Bangkok" found mainstream success in the West End.

Minghella won radio success with a Giles Cooper Award for his radio drama "Cigarettes and Chocolate" [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b62ff BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Saturday Play, Cigarettes and Chocolate ] ] first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988. It was revived on 3 May 2008 as a tribute to its author director following his death. His production starred Juliet Stevenson, Bill Nighy and Jenny Howe. His first radio play "Hang Up", starring Anton Lesser and Juliet Stevenson, was revived on 10 May 2008 as part of the BBC Radio 4 Minghella season. [ [http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/20523/bbc-radio-to-air-minghella-play-season The Stage / News / BBC radio to air Minghella play season ] ]

Minghella's 1990 feature "Truly, Madly, Deeply", a drama he had written and directed for the BBC's "Screen Two" anthology strand, bypassed its expected TV broadcast and received a cinema release. In order to make the film, he had turned down an offer to direct another episode of "Inspector Morse", which he had thought would be a much higher-profile assignment.

In 1996, he won the Academy Award for Directing for "The English Patient". He was nominated for the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay for 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

The pilot episode of the television adaptation of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency", which he co-wrote and directed, was broadcast on BBC One shortly after his death on 23 March 2008; it was watched by 6.3 million viewers.

He vocally supported "I Know I'm Not Alone", a film of musician Michael Franti's peacemaking excursions into Iraq, Palestine and Israel.

He directed a party election broadcast for the Labour Party in 2005. The short film depicted Tony Blair and Gordon Brown working together and was criticised for being insincere: "The Anthony Minghella party political broadcast last year was full of body language fibs", said Peter Collett, a psychologist at the University of Oxford. "When you are talking to me, I'll give you my full attention only if I think you are very high status or if I love you. On that party political broadcast, they are staring at each other like lovers. It is completely false." [cite web| last = Henderson| first = Mark| title = The science behind their mutual dislike | work = The Times Online| publisher = | date = 2006-09-06| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article629340.ece| accessdate =2008-03-18]

He returned to radio drama in 2006 with Eyes Down Looking on BBC Radio 3, starring Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson and David Threlfall to mark Samuel Beckett's 100th birthday celebrations. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/theverb/pip/rvilt/ BBC - Radio 3 - The Verb - Beckett centenary ] ]

Minghella made his operatic debut directing Puccini's "Madama Butterfly". It was first seen at the English National Opera in London in 2005, at the [http://www.opera.lt/English Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre] in Vilnius in March 2006 and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in September 2006. The Anthony Minghella Theatre at Quay Arts Centre on the Isle of Wight is named in his honour. Minghella also made an appearance in the 2007 film "Atonement", playing a television host interviewing the novelist whose role was central to the story.

Personal life

Minghella was married to Hong Kong-born choreographer Carolyn Choa. His brother, Dominic, is also a successful scriptwriter, and his son, Max, is an actor. His daughter Hannah worked as a production assistant on "The Talented Mr. Ripley". His sister Edana participated in a jazz event on the Isle of Wight, and his nephew Dante is one of the participants in Channel 4's "Child Genius" series.

He was a big Portsmouth F.C. fan and appeared in the Channel 4 documentary "Hallowed Be Thy Game". His home had two double bedrooms dedicated to the display of Portsmouth memorabilia dating back to the club's founding in 1898. [ [http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/?cms_id=78&qs_articleid=1033&qs_media=html "Anthony Minghella"] "portsmouthfc.co.uk", Official site, 18 March 2008] [Oliver Duff, [http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/pandora/pandora-directors-dream-for-pompey-797799.html?r=RSS Pandora: Director's dream for Pompey] The Independent, 19 March 2008 ]

Death

Minghella died on March 18, 2008 of a haemorrhage in Charing Cross Hospital, London, following an operation the previous week to remove cancer of the tonsils and neck. [ [http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/news/oscarwinner-minghella-dies-after-cancer-op-797403.html Oscar-winner Minghella dies after cancer op] ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Anthony Minghella, Director, Dies at 54. |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/movies/18cnd-minghella.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin |quote=Anthony Minghella, a British filmmaker who won an Academy Award for his direction of “The English Patient,” died Tuesday morning in London. |publisher=New York Times |date=18 March 2008 |accessdate=2008-03-19 ]

Filmography

Director

elected plays

* "Whale Music" (New End Theatre, Hampstead, June 1981); revived for radio, BBC Radio 4, 10 May 2008
* "Two Planks And A Passion" (Greenwich Theatre, November 1984)
* "A Little Like Drowning" (Hampstead Theatre, July 1984)
* "Made In Bangkok" (West End debut as a playwright, Aldwych Theatre. 18 March 1986, director Michael Blakemore)
* "Hang Up" (radio play for BBC Radio 4,1987)
* "Cigarettes and Chocolate" (60-minute radio play for BBC Radio 4, 1988)
* "Eyes Down Looking" (Beckett 100th Birthday tribute, radio play for BBC Radio 3, 1 April 2006)

Awards

* 1984 Plays and Players: Critics Award - Most Promising Playwright for "A Little Like Drowning"
* 1986 Plays and Players: Critics Award - Best New Play for "Made in Bangkok"
* 1988 Giles Cooper Award for the radio play "Cigarettes and Chocolate"
* 1992 BAFTA Film Award - Best original screenplay for "Truly, Madly, Deeply" (1990)
* 1997 Academy Award - Best director for "The English Patient" (1996)
* 1997 BAFTA Film Award - Best film for "The English Patient" (1996) (shared with Saul Zaentz)
* 1997 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - Best Director and Best Screenplay for "The English Patient" (1996)
* 1997 Directors Guild of America Award - Outstanding Achievement in Motion Pictures for "The English Patient" (1996)
* 1997 Golden Globe Award - Best Director for "The English Patient" (1996)
* 1999 National Board of Review Award - Best Director for "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999)
* 2003 National Board of Review Award - Best Adapted Screenplay for "Cold Mountain" (2003)

References

*Theatre Record and its Indexes for play production dates and awards

External links

http://www.whalemusic.co.uk/
*imdb name|id=0005237|name=Anthony Minghella
* [http://blip.tv/file/838475 Media Masterclass with Anthony Minghella on Directing Film]
* [http://www.bafta.org/learning/webcasts/a-life-in-pictures-anthony-minghella,291,BA.html Anthony Minghella: A Life in Pictures] , BAFTA webcast, 2 December 2006
* [http://www.stv.tv/out/showArticle.jsp?source=opencms&articleId=/out/hotnow/films/Oscar_winning_director_Anthony_Minghella Anthony Minghella interview with stv, November 2006]
* [http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/minghella/2758160 Anthony Minghella - Obituary and public tribute]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/23/nming123.xml "Anthony Minghella, a brother to all he met"] by Dominic Minghella, March 24, 2008
* [http://www.charlierose.com/shows/2008/03/24/3/an-appreciation-of-anthony-minghella "An Appreciation of Anthony Minghella"] Charlie Rose, March 24, 2008
*AN APPRECIATION [http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl-et-harvey5apr05,0,1404918.story "Harvey Weinstein remembers friend Anthony Minghella] , by Harvey Weinstein, Special to The Times, April 5, 2008

*Obituaries:
** [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7302913.stm BBC, 18 March 2008]
** [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/mar/18/filmnews.theatrenews?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews "The Guardian", 18 March 2008]
** [http://film.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/0,,2266432,00.html "The Guardian", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2008/03/19/db1901.xml "The Daily Telegraph", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3578081.ece "The Times", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/anthony-minghella-oscarwinning-director-of-the-english-patient-who-was-unafraid-to-deal-frankly-with-raw-emotions-797768.html "The Independent", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/movies/19minghella.html?ex=1363665600&en=404639650ecde57a&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "The New York Times", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-minghella19mar19,0,5523683.story "Los Angeles Times", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982586.html?categoryid=25&cs=1&query=minghella "Variety", 18 March 2008]
** [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031802819.html "The Washington Post", 19 March 2008]
** [http://www.bafta.org/library/in-memory-of/minghella,463,BO.html BAFTA obituary]