Anthony Minghella | |
|---|---|
 Minghella in 2004 | |
| Born | (1954-01-06)6 January 1954 Ryde, Isle of Wight, England |
| Died | 18 March 2008(2008-03-18) (aged 54) London, England |
| Alma mater | University of Hull |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1975–2008 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2, includingMax |
| Relatives |
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Anthony MinghellaCBE (6 January 1954 – 18 March 2008) was a British playwright and filmmaker. He was chairman of the board of Governors at theBritish Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directedTruly, Madly, Deeply (1990),The English Patient (1996),The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), andCold Mountain (2003), and producedIris (2001).
He received theAcademy Award for Best Director forThe English Patient. In addition, he received three moreAcademy Award nominations; he was nominated forBest Adapted Screenplay for bothThe English Patient andThe Talented Mr. Ripley, and was posthumously nominated forBest Picture forThe Reader (2008), as a producer.
Minghella was born inRyde on theIsle of Wight. His family are well known on the island, where they ran a café in Ryde until the 1980s and have run an eponymous business making and sellingItalian-styleice cream since the 1950s.[1] His parents were Edoardo Minghella (an Italian immigrant) and Leeds-born Gloria Alberta (née Arcari).[2][3] His mother's ancestors originally came fromValvori, a small village in southernLazio, Italy.[4][5] He was one of five children, his sisters Gioia Minghella-Giddens, Edana Minghella andLoretta Minghella, and a brotherDominic Minghella who also became a screenwriter and producer.
Minghella attended St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ryde, Sandown Grammar School, andSt John's College, Portsmouth. Early interests suggested a possible career as a musician,[6] with Minghella playing keyboards with local bands Earthlight and Dancer. The latter recorded an album titledTales of the Riverbank in 1972, although it was not released until 2001.
He attended theUniversity of Hull, studying drama.[7] As an undergraduate he had arrived at university with an EMI contract for the band, in which he sang and played keyboards; while at university he wrote words and music for an adaptation ofGabriel Josipovici'sMobius the Stripper (1975) .[8]
Minghella graduated after three years and stayed on to pursue a PhD. He also taught at the university for several years, onSamuel Beckett and on themedieval theatre. Ultimately, he abandoned his pursuit of a PhD to work for theBBC.[9]
Minghella's debut work was a stage adaptation of Gabriel Josipovici'sMobius the Stripper (1975) and it was hisWhale Music (1985) that brought him notice.[10] His double bill of Samuel Beckett'sPlay andHappy Days was his directorial debut and debut feature film as a director wasA Little Like Drowning (1978). During the 1980s, he worked in television, starting as arunner onMagpie before moving intoscript editing the children's drama seriesGrange Hill for theBBC and later writingThe Storyteller series forJim Henson. He wrote three episodes of theITV detective dramaInspector Morse and an episode of long-running ITV dramaBoon.Made in Bangkok (1986) found mainstream success in theWest End.
Radio success followed with aGiles Cooper Award for the radio dramaCigarettes and Chocolate[11] first broadcast onBBC Radio 4 in 1988. It was revived on 3 May 2008 as a tribute to its author director following his death. His production starredJuliet Stevenson,Bill Nighy and Jenny Howe. His first radio playHang Up, starringAnton Lesser and Juliet Stevenson, was revived on 10 May 2008 as part of the BBC Radio 4 Minghella season.[12]
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), a feature drama written and directed for the BBC'sScreen Two anthology strand, bypassed TV broadcast and instead had a cinema release. He turned down an offer to direct another Inspector Morse to do the project, even though he believed that the Morse episode would have been a much higher-profile assignment.The English Patient (1996) brought him twoAcademy Awards nominations, Best Director (which he won) andAdapted Screenplay. He also received an Adapted Screenplay nomination forThe Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).
His adaptation ofThe No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, which he co-wrote and directed, was broadcast posthumously onBBC One (23 March 2008) as a TV movie; watched by 6.3 million viewers. He vocally supportedI Know I'm Not Alone, a film of musicianMichael Franti's peacemaking excursions intoIraq,Palestine andIsrael. He directed aparty election broadcast for theLabour Party in 2005. The short film depictedTony Blair andGordon 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 theUniversity 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."[13]
With Samuel Beckett's 100th birthday celebrations, he returned to radio onBBC Radio 3 withEyes Down Looking (2006), with:Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson andDavid Threlfall.[14] An operatic directorial debut came withPuccini'sMadama Butterfly. Premiered at theEnglish National Opera (London, 2005), then at theLithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (Vilnius, March 2006) and at theMetropolitan Opera (New York City, September 2006). The latter was transmitted live into cinemas worldwide (7 March 2009) as part of theMet's HD series and is now available on DVD. The ENO work was to have led to other operatic projects, directing again at English National Opera and collaborating withOsvaldo Golijov on a new opera for the Met and ENO, writing the libretto and directing the production.[8]
He was honoured with the naming of The Anthony Minghella Theatre at theQuay Arts Centre (Isle of Wight). He made an appearance in the 2007 filmAtonement as a television host interviewing the novelist central to the story.
His last work was the screenplay ofthe film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musicalNine (1982);Arthur Kopit (book) andMaury Yeston (score). It is based on the film8½. He shared credit withMichael Tolkin on the screenplay.
The department of Film, Theatre & Television at theUniversity of Reading, opened in 2012, was named in his honour.
Minghella met his first wife, Yvonne Millar, when they were students.[15] They had one daughter,[16] and later divorced. In 1985 Minghella married Hong Kong–born choreographer and dancer Carolyn Jane Choa.[5] They had one son,Max.
Minghella's younger brother,Dominic Minghella, is the creator of the television seriesRobin Hood andDoc Martin. His sister,Loretta Minghella, is Master ofClare College, Cambridge.[17]
Minghella was a fan ofPortsmouth F.C., and appeared in theChannel 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.[18][19]
Minghella died of ahaemorrhage on 18 March 2008 inCharing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith, following an operation the previous week to remove cancer of thetonsils and neck.[20][21]
Amemorial plaque to Minghella was unveiled on 2 March 2016 byJude Law, at Western Gardens, Ryde, Isle of Wight.[22]He is commemorated with agreen plaque onThe Avenues, Kingston upon Hull. The 2009 filmNine is dedicated in his memory.[23]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | A Little Like Drowning | Yes | Yes |
| 1990 | Truly, Madly, Deeply | Yes | Yes |
| 1993 | Mr. Wonderful | Yes | No |
| 1996 | The English Patient | Yes | Yes |
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Yes | Yes |
| 2003 | Cold Mountain | Yes | Yes |
| 2006 | Breaking and Entering | Yes | Yes |
| 2009 | Nine | No | Yes |
Executive producer
Producer
Acting roles
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | A Little Like Drowning | Eduardo |
| 2007 | Atonement | Interviewer |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Play | Yes | No | No | |
| 2008 | New York, I Love You | No | Yes | Yes | Segment "Shekhar Kapur" |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Executive Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Storyteller | No | Yes | No | 9 episodes |
| 1990 | Inspector Morse | No | Yes | No | Three episodes: "The Dead of Jericho" (the very first programme), "Deceived by Flight" and "Driven To Distraction" |
| 2008 | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-created byRichard Curtis |
Selected plays
| Year | Title | Academy Awards | BAFTA Awards | Golden Globe Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | Nominations | Wins | ||
| 1990 | Truly, Madly, Deeply | 3 | 1 | ||||
| 1996 | The English Patient | 12 | 9 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| 1999 | The Talented Mr. Ripley | 5 | 7 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2003 | Cold Mountain | 7 | 1 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Total | 24 | 10 | 36 | 10 | 20 | 3 | |
