Roger Michell
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2020) |
Roger Michell | |
---|---|
Transvaal, Union of South Africa | |
Died | 22 September 2021 | (aged 65)
Occupation | Director |
Years active | 1977–2021 |
Spouses |
|
Children | 4 |
Roger Michell (5 June 1956 – 22 September 2021) was a South African-born British theatre, television and film director. He was best known for directing films such as Notting Hill and Venus, as well as the 1995 made-for-television film Persuasion.
Early life and education
Michell was born on 5 June 1956 in
Career
After leaving Cambridge, Michell moved to Brighton[1] where he directed Peter Gill’s Small Change and other plays for the Brighton Actors Workshop. In 1978, under the RTDS scheme, he became an assistant director at the Royal Court Theatre where he assisted, amongst others, John Osborne, Max Stafford-Clark, and Samuel Beckett, and directed a number of plays in the Theatre Upstairs.[1] Michell's contemporaries at the Court included Antonia Bird, Simon Curtis, Hanif Kureishi and, as his stage manager, Danny Boyle.[1]
In 1979 he left the Royal Court Theatre and began writing and directing as a freelance, the most successful result of which was Private Dick, a comedy about
In 1985, Michell joined the Royal Shakespeare Company where, as Resident Director for six years, he directed plays by Shakespeare, Havel, Nelson, Bond, Farquhar, Darke, and others, including Richard Nelson's Some Americans Abroad, which transferred to Broadway in 1990. In 1989, Michell was appointed the Judith E Wilson Senior Fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Michell was a graduate of the BBC Directors' Course, a three-month course especially designed to help theatre directors understand the camera. Subsequently, his first piece of television was the three-part Leigh Jackson thriller Downtown Lagos, produced by
Throughout the 1990s, Michell directed a number of productions at the National Theatre including Mustapha Matura's The Coup, Pinter's The Homecoming, Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, Joanna Murray Smith's Honour, Joe Penhall's Landscape With Weapon, Granville Barker's Waste, Nina Raine's Consent (subsequently at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End), and Blue/Orange with Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, which won numerous awards and played in the West End for a year. Michell was subsequently sought out by Richard Curtis to direct his script Notting Hill, which became an award-winning smash hit and the greatest British Box Office success of all time. He then directed the 2002 critical box office success Changing Lanes starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson.[2]
For the next decade, Michell chose for personal reasons to work only in the UK, and in 2003 directed
Michell was in negotiations to work with Craig yet again in 2006 on what became the James Bond film
He continued to work in theatre, at
Michell then went on to direct
Next came his own adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel My Cousin Rachel, starring Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz; the acclaimed documentary Nothing Like a Dame for the BBC, featuring Joan Plowright, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, and Judi Dench; the euthanasia-focused family drama Blackbird with Kate Winslet, Sam Neill, Susan Sarandon, Rainn Wilson, Mia Wasikowska, and Lindsay Duncan; and The Duke, with Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent, which premiered to universal acclaim at the 2020 Venice Film Festival. There is one more cinema film to follow.
Personal life and death
Michell was married to the actress Kate Buffery and they had two children: Rosanna Michell who became a theatrical agent and Harry Michell, writer, director, and actor.[1]
After his divorce from Buffery, he married Anna Maxwell Martin. They had two daughters, Maggie and Nancy. Maxwell Martin confirmed in 2020 that she and Michell had separated.[3]
Roger Michell died on 22 September 2021, at the age of 65.[4][5]
Filmography
- Downtown Lagos (1992) (TV Mini Series)
- The Buddha of Suburbia (1993) (TV)[1]
- The Buddha of Suburbia (1993) (David Bowie Music Video)
- Ready When You Are, Mr Patel (1995) (TV Documentary, episode of Omnibus)
- Persuasion (1995) (TV)[1]
- My Night with Reg (1996)
- Titanic Town(1998)
- Notting Hill (1999)[1]
- Changing Lanes (2002)
- The Mother (2003)[1]
- Enduring Love (2004)
- Venus (2006)[1]
- Morning Glory (2010)
- Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)
- How Long Will I Love You, Version 2 (2013) (Ellie Goulding Music Video)
- Le Week-End (2013)
- The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies (2014) (TV Mini Series)
- Birthday (2015) (Telefilm)
- My Cousin Rachel (2017)
- National Theatre Live: Consent (2017) (Film of play he also directed)
- Nothing Like a Dame (2018) (Documentary)
- Blackbird (2019)
- The Duke (2020)[1]
- Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts (2022)[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Risen, Clay (23 September 2021). "Roger Michell, Director of 'Notting Hill,' Is Dead at 65". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (23 September 2021). "Roger Michell: a quiet genius still hitting his stride". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ Gannon, Louise (12 April 2020). "I used to worry that I didn't have a pretty face' Anna Maxwell Martin on being newly single and learning to love her looks". YOU Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ Adejodi, Alicia (23 September 2021). "Notting Hill director Roger Michell dies aged 65". Metro. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ Michallon, Clémence (23 September 2021). "Roger Michell death: Notting Hill director dies aged 65". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
- ^ Dearden, Liam (3 February 2022). "Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts | World Exclusive First Look Trailer and Artwork". Coastal House Media. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
External links
- Roger Michell at IMDb
- Interview BBC website