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Lynda La Plante | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lynda Joy Titchmarsh (1943-03-15)15 March 1943 (age 82) Newton-le-Willows,Lancashire, England |
| Occupation | Author, screenwriter, actress |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Spouse | |
| Website | |
| lyndalaplante | |
Lynda Joy La Plante,CBE (néeTitchmarsh; born 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress often known for writing thePrime Suspect television crime series. In 2024 she was honoured with theCrime Writers' Association of Britain'sDiamond Dagger award for her outstanding lifetime's contribution to the crime and mystery fiction genre.[1]
Lynda La Plante was born Lynda Joy Titchmarsh on 15 March 1943 inNewton-le-Willows,Lancashire.[2][3][4][5][6] La Plante's older sister Dail was killed in a road accident, at the age of five, before she was born.[7][8] Her younger sister, Gill Titchmarsh is a casting director, and the two have often worked together.[9] They also had a brother who was a doctor.
Raised inCrosby, Liverpool, La Plante trained for the stage at theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art. After finishing her studies, using the stage name Lynda Marchal, she appeared with theRoyal Shakespeare Company in a variety of productions, as well as popular television series includingZ-Cars,Educating Marmalade,The Sweeney,The Professionals, andBergerac. As an actress she is perhaps best remembered as thehay-fever suffering ghost Tamara Novek in theBBC children's seriesRentaghost. In 1974, La Plante took her first scriptwriting job on theITV children's seriesThe Kids from 47A.[10]
Her breakthrough came in 1983 when she created and wrote the six-part robbery seriesWidows for Thames Television. The plot concerned the widows of four armed robbers carrying out a heist planned by their deceased husbands. A second series ofWidows followed in 1985, while a sequelShe's Out took up the story ten years later.
Her debut novel,The Legacy, was published in 1987 and received both critical and best-seller success. Her second, third and fourth novels came soon after –The Talisman (1987),Bella Mafia (1990) andEntwined (1993) – all of which became international best sellers.In 1990 La Plante started working on her next television project,Prime Suspect, which was released byGranada Television in 1991.Prime Suspect starredHelen Mirren as DCI Jane Tennison, airing in the UK as well as onPBS in the United States as part of theanthology programMystery!. In 1993 La Plante won anEdgar Award from theMystery Writers of America for her work on the series. In 1992 she wrote a TV film calledSeekers, starringBrenda Fricker andJosette Simon, produced bySarah Lawson.
In 1993 La Plante formed her own television production company, La Plante Productions and through her new company she wrote and produced high-rating seriesThe Governor (ITV 1995–96),Supply & Demand (ITV 1997–98),Killer Net (Channel 4 1998), acclaimed seriesTrial & Retribution (ITV 1997–2009),Mind Games (ITV 2001) andThe Commander (ITV 2003–08). During this period La Plante also released the Cold series of books;Cold Shoulder,Cold Blood andCold Heart, followed bySleeping Cruelty (2000) – adding to her list of best sellers.
In 1996 La Plante co-wrote and executive producedThe Prosecutors (NBC) withTom Fontana (starring Stockard Channing), wrote and executive producedBella Mafia (1998 CBS) (starringVanessa Redgrave), which La Plante adapted from her novel of the same name. In 2001 she co-producedThe Warden (2001 TNT), starringAlly Sheedy, a variation of La Plante's seriesThe Governor. La Plante also co-produced her adaptation of the UK hitWidows (2002 ABC) and produced the pilot ofCold Shoulder (2006 New Regency / CBS) starringKelly McGillis, which was based on her Cold series. La Plante was also executive producer on Daniel Petrie Jr's adaptation of her showFramed (2002 TNT) which starredSam Neill andRob Lowe.
La Plante releasedRoyal Flush (2002), and then began working on her Anna Travis series, which includesAbove Suspicion (2004),The Red Dahlia (2005),Clean Cut (2007),Deadly Intent (2008),Silent Scream (2009),Blind Fury (2010),Blood Line (2011),Backlash (2012), andWrongful Death (2013). So successful were the books that a UKtelevision series was written and produced by La Plante starringKelly Reilly andCiarán Hinds.
Widows was remade asa US-set film in 2018, directed bySteve McQueen.[11]Prime Suspect was also remade asan American series, starringMaria Bello. It ran for 13 episodes in 2011–2012.[12]
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La Plante has received many awards over the course of her career. For her work onPrime Suspect she received twoEmmy Awards for Outstanding Mini Series (1993, 1994), as well as the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery TV Episode.[13] In 2001, theBritish Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) gave her the Dennis Potter Award for television writing.[13]
In 2008 La Plante was appointed Commander of theOrder of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to Literature, Drama and to Charity.[13][14] In the same year she received the TV Spielfilm Award at the International Film and Television Festival Conference inCologne, Germany, for her television adaptation of her novelAbove Suspicion.
In 2009 La Plante was inducted into the Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame and most recently, in 2013, La Plante was awarded an honorary fellowship with theForensic Science Society (FSSoc), the first non-scientist to be inducted into the professional body; receiving the award for the accuracy with which she portraysforensic science in her work.
In 2024 she was named winner of theCrime Writers' Association of Britain'sDiamond Dagger award for her outstanding lifetime's contribution to the crime and mystery fiction genre.[1]
She has also been made an honorary member of theBritish Film Institute,[13] an honorary fellow fromLiverpool John Moores University, and in July 2022 anHonorary Doctor of Arts (HonDA) byEdge Hill University.[15][16]
She was married to musician Richard La Plante for 17 years, until their divorce in 1996. At the age of 57 she adopted a baby son whose name is Lorcan.[19][20]
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