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Anthony Minghella, CBE (6 January 1954 – 18 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007.

Anthony Minghella CBE
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
Occupation	Playwright director screenwriter
Years active	1975–2008
Spouses	Yvonne Miller (div.) Carolyn Choa ​ (m. 1985)​
Children	2, including Max
Relatives	Dominic Minghella (brother)

He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The English Patient (1996). In addition, he received three more Academy Award nominations; he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for both The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and was posthumously nominated for Best Picture for The Reader (2008), as a producer.

Early life

Minghella was born in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England that is a popular holiday resort. 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 selling Italian-style ice 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 from Valvori, a small village in southern Lazio, Italy.[4][5] He was one of five children, his sisters Gioia Minghella-Giddens, Edana Minghella and Loretta Minghella, and a brother Dominic Minghella who would also become a screenwriter and producer.

Minghella attended St. Mary's Catholic Primary School, Ryde, Sandown Grammar School, and St 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 titled Tales of the Riverbank in 1972, although it was not released until 2001.

He attended the University 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 of Gabriel Josipovici's Mobius 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, on Samuel Beckett and on the medieval theatre. Ultimately, he abandoned his pursuit of a PhD to work for the BBC.[9]

Career

Minghella's debut work was a stage adaptation of Gabriel Josipovici's Mobius the Stripper (1975) and it was his Whale Music (1985) that brought him notice.[10] His double bill of Samuel Beckett's Play and Happy Days was his directorial debut and debut feature film as a director was A Little Like Drowning (1978). 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 wrote several episodes of the ITV detective drama Inspector Morse and an episode of long-running ITV drama Boon. Made in Bangkok (1986) found mainstream success in the West End.

Radio success followed with a Giles Cooper Award for the radio drama Cigarettes and Chocolate[11] 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.[12]

Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), a feature drama written and directed for the BBC's Screen 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 ll assignment. The English Patient (1996) brought him two Academy Awards nominations, Best Director (which he won) and Adapted Screenplay. He also received an Adapted Screenplay nomination for The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a pilot episode television adaptation which he co-wrote and directed, was broadcast posthumously on BBC One (23 March 2008); 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."[13]

With Samuel Beckett's 100th birthday celebrations, he returned to radio on BBC Radio 3 with Eyes Down Looking (2006), with: Jude Law, Juliet Stevenson and David Threlfall.[14] An operatic directorial debut came with Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Premiered at the English National Opera (London, 2005), then at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre (Vilnius, March 2006) and at the Metropolitan Opera (New York City, September 2006). The latter was transmitted live into cinemas worldwide (7 March 2009) as part of the Met'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 with Osvaldo 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 the Quay Arts Centre (Isle of Wight). He made an appearance in the 2007 film Atonement as a television host interviewing the novelist central to the story.

His last work was the screenplay of the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical Nine (1982); Arthur Kopit (book) and Maury Yeston (score). It is based on the film 8½. He shared credit with Michael Tolkin on the screenplay.

The department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading, opened in 2012, was named in his honour.

Personal life and death

Minghella met his first wife, Yvonne Miller, when they were students.[15] They had one daughter, Hannah,[16] who is currently the Head of Motion Pictures at J. J. Abrams' Bad Robot. Minghella and Miller eventually divorced and in 1985 Minghella married Hong Kong–born choreographer and dancer Carolyn Jane Choa.[5] They had one son, Max, an actor, screenwriter and director. Max is best known for his role as Nick Blaine in the Hulu drama series The Handmaid's Tale.

Minghella's younger brother, Dominic Minghella, is the creator of the popular British television series Robin Hood and Doc Martin, and a scriptwriter. His sister, Loretta Minghella, is First Church Estates Commissioner at the Church Commissioners, having previously been Director of Christian Aid.[17] 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.

Minghella was a fan of Portsmouth F.C., 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.[18][19]

Minghella died of a haemorrhage on 18 March 2008 in Charing Cross Hospital, Hammersmith, following an operation the previous week to remove cancer of the tonsils and neck.[20][21]

Memorial plaques

A memorial plaque to Minghella was unveiled on 2 March 2016 by Jude Law, at Western Gardens, Ryde, Isle of Wight.[22] He is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull. The 2009 film Nine is dedicated in his memory.[23]

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1978	A Little Like Drowning	Yes	Yes
1990	Inspector Morse		Yes		TV episode "Driven To Distraction"
1990	Truly, Madly, Deeply	Yes	Yes		BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
1993	Mr. Wonderful	Yes
1996	The English Patient	Yes	Yes		Academy Award for Best Director BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
1999	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Yes	Yes		Nominated—Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Director
2000	Play	Yes			Short film
2003	Cold Mountain	Yes	Yes		Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Direction Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
2006	Breaking and Entering	Yes	Yes	Yes
2008	The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency	Yes	Yes	executive	TV pilot
	New York, I Love You		Yes	executive	Segment "Shekhar Kapur"
2009	Nine		Yes		Posthumous release

Producer only

Year	Title	Notes
2001	Iris	Executive producer
2002	Heaven
	The Quiet American	Executive producer
2005	The Interpreter
2006	Catch a Fire
2007	Michael Clayton	Executive producer
2008	Love You More
	The Reader	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Picture (posthumously)

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role
1978	A Little Like Drowning	Eduardo
2007	Atonement	Interviewer

Selected plays

• Whale Music (New End Theatre, Hampstead, June 1981); revived for radio, BBC Radio 4, 10 May 2008
• Two Planks and a Passion[24] (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

Year	Work	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
2008	The Reader	5	1	5	1	4	1
2009	Nine	4		1		5
Total		33	11	42	11	29	4

• 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
• 1997 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award – 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 Satellite Award – Best Adapted Screenplay 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)
• 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production for the English National Opera production of Madama Butterfly

Directed Academy Award performances

Minghella was directed multiple Oscar winning and nominated performances.

Year	Performer	Film	Result
Academy Award for Best Actor
1997	Ralph Fiennes	The English Patient	Nominated
2004	Jude Law	Cold Mountain	Nominated
Academy Award for Best Actress
1997	Kristin Scott Thomas	The English Patient	Nominated
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
2000	Jude Law	The Talented Mr. Ripley	Nominated
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1997	Juliette Binoche	The English Patient	Won
2004	Renée Zellweger	Cold Mountain	Won

References

• Theatre Record and its indexes for play production dates and awards

External links

• Anthony Minghella at IMDb
• Media Masterclass with Anthony Minghella on Directing Film
• Anthony Minghella: A Life in Pictures, BAFTA webcast, 2 December 2006
• Anthony Minghella interview with stv, November 2006^{[permanent dead link]}
• "About Anthony", Minghella Film Festival, Isle of Wight
• Anthony Minghella, a brother to all he met^{[dead link]} by Dominic Minghella, 24 March 2008
• An Appreciation of Anthony Minghella by Charlie Rose, 24 March 2008
• Anthony Minghella, my teacher, my friend, by Harvey Weinstein, The Times, 10 April 2008
• Anthony Minghella remembered by Jude Law, The Observer, Sunday 14 December 2008
• Minghella musical discovered, BBC Humberside.
• Obituaries:
  • BBC, 18 March 2008
  • The Guardian, 18 March 2008
  • Variety, 18 March 2008
  • The Guardian, 19 March 2008
  • The Daily Telegraph, 19 March 2008^{[dead link]}
  • The Times, 19 March 2008
  • The Independent, 19 March 2008
  • The New York Times, 19 March 2008
  • Los Angeles Times, 19 March 2008
  • The Washington Post, 19 March 2008
• Tributes:
  • Minghella Movie Marathon, BBC, updated 25 March 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  • Minghella Movie Marathon, at British Film Institute. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  • More stars join Minghella marathon, iwcp.co.uk, 4 March 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  • Anthony Minghella's family celebrates his memory with film festival, Syma Tariq, The Guardian, 12 March 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.

На других языках

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[de] Anthony Minghella

Anthony Minghella, CBE (* 6. Januar 1954 auf der Isle of Wight; † 18. März 2008 in London) war ein britischer Filmregisseur, Filmproduzent, Drehbuchautor, Dramatiker, Hörspielautor, Theater- und Opernregisseur.

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- [en] Anthony Minghella

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[es] Anthony Minghella

Anthony Minghella CBE (Ryde, Isla de Wight; 6 de enero de 1954 - Londres, Inglaterra; 18 de marzo de 2008) fue un director de cine y guionista británico. Nacido en la Isla de Wight, de padre italiano y madre escocesa, se graduó en la Universidad de Hull.

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[ru] Мингелла, Энтони

Э́нтони Минге́лла (англ. Anthony Minghella; 6 января 1954 — 18 марта 2008) — британский кинорежиссёр, сценарист и драматург. Обладатель премии «Оскар» за лучшую режиссуру («Английский пациент», 1996).

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