David Nicholls (writer)

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This article is about the British novelist and screenwriter. For other people with this name or similar names, see David Nicholls.

David Nicholls
BornDavid Alan Nicholls
(1966-11-30) 30 November 1966 (age 57)
Eastleigh, Hampshire, England
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • Screenwriter
  • Former actor
NationalityBritish
Alma materRoyal Central School of Speech and Drama University of Bristol [citation needed]
Period1999–present
Notable works

David Alan Nicholls[1] (born 30 November 1966) is a British novelist and screenwriter.

Early life and education

Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended

Barton Peveril College at Eastleigh, Hampshire
, taking A-levels in Drama, English Literature, Physics and Biology.

He also took part in college drama productions, playing a wide range of roles.[2] He went onto study at the University of Bristol, graduating with a BA in Drama and English in 1988.[3]

He later trained as an actor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. [citation needed]

First career

Throughout his 20s, he worked as an actor, using the stage name David Holdaway. He played small roles at various theatres, including the

PJ Kavanagh’s memoir The Perfect Stranger, which tells the author's own tale of maturation, finding love, and discovering his path in life.[4]

Writing career

Novels

Screenwriting

Nicholls co-wrote the adapted screenplay of

Rescue Me (2002). Rescue Me lasted for only one series before being cancelled. Nicholls had written four episodes for the second series before being told of the cancellation. His anger over this led to him taking a break from screenwriting to concentrate on writing Starter for Ten.[7] When he returned to screenwriting, he adapted Much Ado About Nothing into a one-hour segment of the BBC's 2005 ShakespeaRe-Told season. For this, he was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Single Drama. He wrote a screen adaptation of his novel, One Day, which was made into a film starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess
.

In 2006, his film adaptation

Tess of the D'Urbervilles for the BBC aired in 2008. He has also adapted Great Expectations; the screenplay has been listed on the 2009 Brit List, an annual industry poll of the best unmade scripts outside the United States.[8] He wrote The 7.39, which was broadcast on BBC One
in January 2014.

In 2015, he wrote the screenplay of

BBC Films of Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel of the same name. It is the fourth film adaptation of the novel.[9]

Nicholls worked on the initial script for

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special
for his work on the show.

Aftersun

In 2005, he wrote Aftersun for the

Old Vic's 24-Hour Play festival. The play, starring James Nesbitt, Saffron Burrows, Catherine Tate and Gael García Bernal was just 10 minutes long. Nicholls developed Aftersun into a one-off comedy for BBC One. It starred Peter Capaldi and Sarah Parish and was broadcast in 2006.[10]

Awards and honours

In 2015, Nicholls was awarded an honorary DLitt from The University of Edinburgh.[11] In 2016, he returned to the University of Bristol to receive the award of an honorary DLitt.[12]

References

  1. ^ Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England and Wales, 1837–2006. 6B. p. 1327.
  2. ^ a b Murray, Janet (20 February 2007). "College days". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  3. ^ "Notable alumni – Faculty of Arts". University of Bristol Alumni. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  4. ^ Nicholls, David (30 May 2015). "David Nicholls: the book that saved me". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  5. ^ Nicholls, David (4 March 2009). "More University Challenge Cheats? As Corpus Christi are stripped of their champions title and last year's winners are also accused of cheating, can any quiz be good clean fun?". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Craft Nominations 2000". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  7. ^ Martin, Will (29 February 2008). "Sally Phillips interview". LastBroadcast.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 March 2008. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  8. ^ Dawtrey, Adam (5 October 2009). "Good Luck Anthony Belcher tops Brit list of unmade scripts". London: guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  9. ^ Kemp, Stuart (18 May 2008). "BBC Films has diverse slate". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  10. ^ "Comedy dramas on BBC One" (Press release). BBC Press Office. 24 August 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  11. ^ "Honorary graduates 2014/15". 7 April 2016.
  12. ^ a b Nicholls, David (Autumn 2016). "Finding my feet" (PDF). Nonesuch. University of Bristol. p. 22. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  13. ^ Flood, Alison (27 November 2014). "David Nicholls and David Walliams win top prizes at National Book Awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Nicholls.
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