Roger Michell, the filmmaker behind the likes of Notting Hill, Venus and Morning Glory, has died. He was 65.
Michell was born in South Africa in 1956 to a British diplomat father and thanks to his job, the family travelled regularly before settling back in the UK. Studying at Clifton College in Bristol Michell started his creative career with short plays and then won a place to study English at Queens' College, Cambridge. There, he both appeared in and directed many plays, winning both the RSC Buzz Goodbody Award for Best Student Director at the NSDF, and a Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival for Private Dick.
Following his graduation in 1977, Mitchell moved to Brighton to work at the Brighton Actors Workshop and from there became an assistant director at the Royal Court Theatre, working with such notable talents as John Osborne, Max Stafford-Clark, Samuel Beckett and future fellow filmmaker Danny Boyle. Michell's theatrical career also included freelance stints and six years as Resident Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
After completing the BBC Directors' Course, he began working in television, kicking off his small screen career with Leigh Jackson thriller Downtown Lagos, which in turn led to the award-winning Hanif Kureishi adaptation The Buddha Of Suburbia. Other notable TV work included Jane Austen adaptation Persuasion, My Night With Reg (drawn from one of the successful plays he'd directed at the Royal Court and on the West End) and Titanic Town.
Richard Curtis sought Michell out to direct Notting Hill, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, which became for a time the highest-grossing British film in history, winning the audience award at the Baftas in 2000. He followed that up with thriller Changing Lanes. After his first Hollywood experience, Michell largely preferred to work in the UK, directing Daniel Craig in The Mother and Enduring Love. He almost ended up making Quantum Of Solace starring Craig as Bond, but left over script issues.
Michell was able to balance time working in the theatre and movies even as his screen career took off, and other films he directed included Venus, Morning Glory, Hyde Park On Hudson, Le Week-End, Blackbird and My Cousin Rachel. His most recent work, The Duke, starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, will be out in the UK next year.