Fran Walsh | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Walsh in 2019 | |
| Born | Frances Rosemary Walsh (1959-01-10)10 January 1959 (age 66) Wellington, New Zealand |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, film producer, lyricist |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Partner | Peter Jackson (1987–present) |
| Children | 2 |
Dame Frances Rosemary WalshDNZM (born 10 January 1959)[1] is aNew Zealand screenwriter and film producer.
The partner of filmmakerPeter Jackson, Walsh has contributed to all of their films since 1989: as co-writer sinceMeet the Feebles, and as producer sinceThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy. She has won threeAcademy Awards for the final film of the trilogy,The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
Together, with her husband Peter Jackson, Walsh was named fifth richest on the 2025 NBR Rich List in New Zealand. Together their estimated net worth is $2.6 billion NZD.[2]
Walsh was born into a family ofIrish descent[3] inWellington, New Zealand. She attendedWellington Girls' College intent on becoming a fashion designer, but eventually became interested in music instead. Occasionally taking time off to perform in apunk band named The Wallsockets, she attendedVictoria University of Wellington majoring inEnglish literature and graduating in 1981.[3]
Walsh got her screen break writing material for New Zealand producer Grahame McLean on 1983 television filmA Woman of Good Character (It's Lizzie to those Close). Later she wrote scripts for his TV showWorzel Gummidge Down Under.[3]
Walsh met Peter Jackson in the mid-1980s during the final stages of production on his low-budget movieBad Taste, in which aliens serve humans as fast food.[3] Walsh has collaborated with Jackson on the scripts of all his subsequent films, after joining the writing quartet on his next film, thedark comedyMeet the Feebles (1989).[4] The couple then reteamed with writerStephen Sinclair on thehorror-comedy film that they had begun writing before Feebles, the zombie movieBraindead (retitledDead Alive in the United States, 1992).[5]
Walsh and Jackson have not married (2015).[3] They explored new ground with the dramaHeavenly Creatures (1994). The film was Walsh's idea[3] and was based on the friendship of theParker-Hulme teenagers, who infamously later killed one of their mothers. The film earned the duo an Oscar nomination for the screenplay. Walsh gave birth to Billy in 1995 and Katie in 1996. Walsh and Jackson returned to a more familiar genre withUniversal Studios horror-comedyThe Frighteners (1996), their first film funded by an American studio.[citation needed] They were in talks with Universal to remakeKing Kong until 1998'sGodzilla andMighty Joe Young were first announced, and Universal decided against the film. Universal feared it would be thrown aside by the two higher budget movies.[6] Wanting to try his hand atfantasy, Jackson turned toMiramax to make a film based on the works of writerJ.R.R. Tolkien. In 1998,New Line Cinema provided the necessary financial backing to make a three-part adaptation of Tolkien's classicThe Lord of the Rings.[7]
Walsh, with Jackson andPhilippa Boyens, is credited for writing the screenplays forThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) (Stephen Sinclair has a writing credit on the second film:The Two Towers). They shared many awards, including anOscar for theiradapted screenplay forThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. She also was one of the film's producers and co-composer of two songs forReturn of the King, namely "Into the West"[8] and "A Shadow Lies Between Us", the former song earning her one more Oscar that night.
Walsh, Jackson, and Boyens continued their screenplay work together for the 2005 remake ofKing Kong, which was given thegreen light by Universal after the Rings trilogy's success. The couple collaborated on the adaptation of the novelThe Lovely Bones and on the three-film adaptation ofThe Hobbit.[3]
Walsh prefers to remain more private than Jackson or Boyens; she did not contribute an interview to the bonus features onThe Lord of the Rings movie DVDs; however, she did feature on the director/writers'commentary (where she and Jackson discussed that they felt one of them should remain a private figure for the good of their family). Her vocals were used as a significant part of the screech of theNazgûl in the films.[9]
She won threeAcademy Awards in 2004, forBest Picture,Best Adapted Screenplay andBest Original Song, all forThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. She has received seven Oscar nominations.
In the2002 New Year Honours, Walsh was appointed aMember of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to film.[10] In the2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was promoted toDame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for services to film.[11]
This is her selected filmography as screenwriter, unless noted:
... New Zealand screenwriter Fran Walsh in 1959 (age 61)
