Richard Curtis

Born: 8 November 1956
Where: New Zealand

Best known as the screenwriter of the British romantic comedies Four Weddings and A Funeral and Notting Hill, Curtis made his directorial debut with Love Actually.

Curtis moved to England and went to Oxford University's Christ Church College, where he majored in English and met graduate student Rowan Atkinson.

The two quickly became creative partners, leading to a hit performance at 1979's Edinburgh Festival that brought the pair notice and an offer for the BBC-2 series Not the Nine O'Clock News.

Written by Curtis and Atkinson and starring Atkinson alongside a cast including future director Mel Smith, this sketch comedy programme ran from 1979 to 1982.

In 1983, Curtis and Atkinson teamed up to write the 15th Century set comedy The Blackadder, starring Atkinson.

The series was reborn three years later with co-writer Ben Elton collaborating with Curtis in Blackadder II, which was follwed by two other series.

> In addition to a featured role in Curtis' feature screenwriting debut, The Tall Guy, Atkinson starred in the screenwriter's next television undertaking, Mr. Bean.

The Tall Guy, starring Jeff Goldblum and directed by Mel Smith, became a sleeper hit in Britain and marked the film debut of Emma Thompson.

Four Weddings and a Funeral proved a massive hit, earning Curtis Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Screenplay as well as BAFTA nominations, and jump-starting the Hollywood career of star Hugh Grant.

Five years later Curtis teamed up again with Hugh Grant on Notting Hill, and later contributed to the screenplay for Bridget Jones's Diary and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason.

Continuing with romantic comedies, he directed Huge Grant in Love Actually, which he also wrote.