Biography for
Anthony Minghella

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Date of Birth

6 January 1954, Ryde, Isle of Wight, England, UK

Date of Death

18 March 2008, London, England, UK (hemorrhage following surgery)

Mini Biography

Anthony Minghella was the son of immigrants from Italy, who own an ice-cream factory on the Isle of Wight, where Anthony was born on January 6, 1954. He and his two siblings grew up there, a popular British holiday spot. After graduating from the University of Hull, Minghella took a position as a university lecturer, but quit academia to focus on the theater and songwriting. He oversaw the music in many of his movies.

Minghella was employed as a scriptwriter on the British TV series "Maybury" (1981) and "Inspector Morse" (1987), and as a script editor on the British TV series "Grange Hill" (1978) before succeeding as a dramatist in the West End, London's equivalent of Broadway. In 1984, the London Theatre Critics named him Most Promising Playwright of the Year, and two years later, his drama Made in Bangkok won the the London Theatre Critics' award for best play.

An Anthony Minghella film assured movie-goers would enjoy a film blessed with a literate script, superlative performances and first-rate production values. His great craftsmanship was apparent from the beginning, with the bittersweet 1990 comedy Truly Madly Deeply (1990), in which the ghost of Alan Rickman comes back to his lady love, Juliet Stevenson, with unintended consequences. The theme of a ghostly love also was present in The English Patient (1996) his greatest success.

It is for that film he will be best remembered. Minghella claimed that with "The English Patient," which won nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, that he had reached the heights of his directing career.

In addition to his theater and film awards, in 2001, Anthony Minghella was appointed a Commander of the British Empire, a step just below knighthood, in the Queen's Birthday Honors List.

Anthony Minghella died of a hemorrhage on the morning of March 18, 2008 at Charing Cross Hospital in London, England. The 54-year-old Minghella had undergone an operation to remove a growth on his neck the previous week. He was survived by his wife and two children, Max, who is an actor, and Hannah, who worked as a production assistant.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood

Spouse

Carolyn Choa

(? - 18 March 2008) (his death) 2 children

Trade Mark

Frequently worked with Jude Law.

Trivia

Born to Edward Minghella, who was Italian-Scottish, and his wife Gloria, whose ancestors came from the village of Valvori near Rome, they owned a ice cream factory.

After attending the University of Hull (East Yorkshire/Humberside, England), he briefly worked as a university professor where he started writing music and plays. He won the London Theater Critics Award in 1984 for Most Promising Playwright and in 1986 for Best Play with "Made In Bangkok".

Appointed a CBE in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

In 1984, the London Theatre Critics named him Most Promising Playwright of the Year.

He directed 5 actors to Oscar nominations: Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Renée Zellweger, Juliette Binoche and Kristin Scott Thomas. Binoche and Zellwegger won for their supporting turns in The English Patient (1996) and Cold Mountain (2003), respectively.

Brother of writers Edana Minghella and Dominic Minghella.

Winner of the Giles Cooper Award in 1988 for "Cigarettes and Chocolate".

As he was a big supporter of soccer club Portsmouth FC, his home had two double bedrooms dedicated to the display of the club's memorabilia.

Father of Max Minghella and Hannah Minghella, who worked as production assistant on the set of The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999).

In 2000, became partners with Sydney Pollack in Mirage Enterprises.

Friend of Tony Blair.

Personal Quotes

"The only lesson to extract from any civil war is that it's pointless and futile and ugly, and that there is nothing glamorous or heroic about it. There are heroes, but the causes are never heroic."

"When I became the chair of the British Film Institute, I didn't understand how much of my time would be taken up with trying to make a case for the British Film Institute: what it's for, why it exists, why it needs its money."

I had never thought of myself as a director and found out that I was not. I am a writer who was able to direct the films that I write.

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