Anthony Minghella

Born: 6th January 1954
Where: Ryde, Isle of Wight

Died: March 18 2008

The respected British director swept the board when 1996's The English Patient racked up nine Academy Awards.

Based on the novel by Michael Ondaatje, the film, which starred Ralph Fiennes and Kristen Scott Thomas, landed a total of 30 awards.

The son of ice cream factory owners, his father was Italian/Scottish and his mother came from Leeds.

(her ancestors originally came from Valvori, a small village in the Lazio region of central Italy).

He attended Sandown Grammar School and St John's College (Portsmouth) and graduated in English from the University of Hull.

He stayed on to lecture while studying for a doctorate and made his stage directing debut with his own play Mobius the Stripper.

He also harboured a musical interest and wrote songs in an attempt to create a showcase for some of his writings.

After some success on the stage with Whale Music, and Made in Bangkok, he decided to move into TV and wrote some of the Inspector Morse, Grange Hill and Boon episodes in the late 80s and early 90s.

Gradually, Minghella began to move over to America, where he wrote for the NBC series, The Jim Henson Hour.

His feature directorial debut was Truly, Madly, Deeply, starring Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman, which was shown at the London Film Festival and earned him his first BAFTA.

His first American film was Mr Wonderful, and although the movie was not a huge success, it was still a positive entry into the world of Hollywood.

The real box office breakthrough was the award winning and critically acclaimed The English Patient, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.

The film was nominated for twelve Oscars and won nine - including Best Picture and Best Director.

This success was followed up with his high profile adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley, which boasted a star-studded cast of Jude Law, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow.

In 2000, Minghella decided to explore the business possibilities of his talents and joined forces with Sydney Pollack to create Mirage Enterprises.

Early productions included the movies Heaven, Iris and The Quiet American.

In 2003, he wrote the screenplay and directed the feature adaptation of Charles Frazier's Civil War-era novel Cold Mountain.

He directed a party election broadcast for the Labour Party in 2005 and made his operatic debut the same year directing Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

It was first seen at the English National Opera in London in 2005, at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Vilnius in March 2006 and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in September 2006.

The same year he wrote and directed his last film, the drama Breaking and Entering, starring Jude Law as an architect who befriends a young thief.

The Anthony Minghella Theatre at Quay Arts Centre on the Isle of Wight is named in his honour.

Outside directing, he was made head of the British Film Institute.

He married the Hong Kong choreographer Carolyn Choa. They had two children.

Minghella died aged 54 on March 18 2008 of a brain haemmorhage following an operation for cancer of the tonsils.