John Madden

Born: 8th April 1949
Where: Portsmouth, Hampshire

A prolific director of stage and TV in London and New York, John has demonstrated a particular flair for literary adaptations.

He started working at the BBC and in 1973 moved to the USA where he worked in radio drama.

He made his TV directing debut with Wings, a play by Arnold Kopit which he had previously developed for radio and the stage. Following this, he directed Broadway productions of Beyond Therapy and Grown-Ups, as well as several plays for the New York Shakespeare Festival.

John worked frequently in British TV, with several episodes of the acclaimed series After the War, as well as Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes, and the TV-movie Prime Suspect: The Lost Child.

John made his feature directorial debut in 1993 with Ethan Frome, starring Liam Neeson and Patricia Arquette, and followed a year later with Golden Gate. The film received lukewarm reviews, and John decided to move back to London.

He scored a critical hit in 1997, directing Mrs. Brown, with Judi Dench and Billy Connolly, after which he directed Shakespeare in Love, which reunited John with Judi Dench, and co-starred Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The film delighted audiences and critics and received 13 Oscar nominations including one for John as Best Director.

John was at the helm of Captain Corelli's Mandolin, then switched from the big screen to the stage in 2002, directing Gwenyth Paltrow in the London premiere of Proof at the Donmar Warehouse.