Anthony Minghella (Estate)

Anthony Minghella was born in 1954 on the Isle of Wight to Italian parents and died in  March 2008 at the age of  54. He was married to Carolyn Choa.  Until 1981 he lectured in Drama at the University of Hull.  His stage plays are CHILD'S PLAY, WHALE MUSIC, A LITTLE LIKE DROWNING, TWO PLANKS AND A PASSION, MADE IN BANGKOK and LOVE BITES. He was voted Most Promising Playwright in 1984 by the London Theatre Critics, who then gave MADE IN BANGKOK the Best New Play award for 1986.

His television trilogy, WHAT IF IT'S RAINING? was highly acclaimed throughout Europe.  He began and regularly contributed to ITV's award-winning series INSPECTOR MORSE.  He wrote all nine of the short television films in THE STORYTELLER series for Jim Henson and NBC, which subsequently won awards all over the world including an EMMY, the BAFTA award and the Gold Medal at the New York International Film & Television Festival.  He also wrote a single film with the same team, LIVING WITH DINOSAURS, which won an International Emmy in 1991.

His BBC radio play, HANG UP, won the Prix Italia in 1988 and CIGARETTES AND CHOCOLATE, which he wrote and directed for BBC Radio's Globe Theatre Season, won the 1989 Giles Cooper Award and the 1989 Sony Award.

In 2005, he directed MADAM BUTTERFLY for English National Opera at the London Coliseum. It received an Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production and Outstanding Achievement in Opera for Anthony Minghella’s direction and Carolyn Choa’s co-direction and choreography.

His first film as writer/director, TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY, was a great success both in Britain and in America and won him several prizes including a BAFTA award and a Writers' Guild Award.

THE ENGLISH PATIENT, which he wrote and directed, opened in London in March 1997. THE ENGLISH PATIENT, based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje, has won over thirty awards: 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, 2 Golden Globe awards, 6 BAFTA Awards, The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay and The Scripters Award for Best Screenplay. Anthony was also awarded the Director’s Guild of America award for Best Director.

THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, which he adapted for the screen and directed, opened in February 2000. It was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay and 7 BAFTA Awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. For THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, Anthony Minghella won the Best Director Award from America’s National Board of Review and was named by America’s Cinema Owners, ShoWest’s Director of the Year 2000.

COLD MOUNTAIN, which he wrote and directed, opened in America and the UK in December 2003.   The screenplay is based on the novel by Charles Frazier.   The film was nominated for 8 Golden Globe Awards, 13 BAFTA Awards, and 7 Academy Awards.

BREAKING AND ENTERING was Anthony’s first original screenplay for 15 years. The film, which Anthony also directed, stars longtime collaborators Jude Law and Juliette Binoche.

Anthony was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Hull in 1998, the University of Southampton in 2000 and the University of Bournemouth in 2001. He is the first Freeman of the Isle of Wight. In June 2001, Anthony was awarded a CBE.   Anthony was Chairman of the BFI.

Anthony and Sydney Pollack were joint owners of Mirage Enterprises, the production company behind films such as SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS, THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY, IRIS, BIRTHDAY GIRL, HEAVEN, THE QUIET AMERICAN, COLD MOUNTAIN, THE INTERPRETER and TO CATCH A FIRE.