#80 - Anthony Minghella - 24/10/3

Most notable films: Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Cold Mountain (2003).

Sadly, the 'Oscar Director-y' acknowledges the passing of Anthony Minghella, who rose to Oscar fame with his direction of The English Patient, which earned him Best Director, and his film, the Best Picture of 1996.

With 24 nominations and 10 Oscars, covering just 3 films, Anthony Minghella is ranked #80 on the 'Oscar Director-y'.

Born on the Isle of Whyte, in England, on January 6, 1954, Anthony was the son of Italian immigrants, who ran an ice cream factory. His childhood dream was to become a writer, and he eventually attended the University of Hull, subsequently becoming a professor of literature. He also taught drama. He began in television as a general assistant on a popular TV show, then became a script editor and writer on "Grange Hill", a well established BBC soap. After writing Whale Music in 1985, he achieved success with Made in Bangkok in 1986. He followed that up with acclaimed scripts for "The Storyteller" and "Inspector Morse", both popular BBC shows.

In 1990, Minghella wrote and directed his first feature film, Truly, Madly, Deeply, which was well received by the English critics. Unfortunately, his next attempt, an American romantic-comedy called Mr. Wonderful, did not go over well at all. While in New York filming this 1993 vehicle, he read a novel by Michael Ondaatje, called The English Patient. He called producer Saul Zaentz, who had been a fan of Truly, Madly, Deeply. Zaentz agreed to back Minghella's screen adaptation and the film, released in 1996, put the director into the spotlight. The English Patient received 12 Oscar nominations, winning 9 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Minghella was also nominated for his Adapted Screenplay, but lost out to Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade. Juliette Binoche won the Oscar for Supporting Actress, the first of five performers to be nominated for their work in Minghella-lensed films.

Anthony Minghella's next work was another adaptation of a novel, this time Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. This 1999 film accrued 5 nominations, including another Adapted Screenplay nod for Minghella. His last major screen success was Cold Mountain, adapted from the award-winning novel by Charles Frazier. The film received 7 nominations, with its only Oscar going to Supporting Actress Renee Zellwegger.

Shortly before his death, Anthony Minghella had completed the direction of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a two-hour pilot film for a BBC-TV series. It was shot in Botswana, South Africa. The film aired just five days after Minghella died, on March 18, of a hemorrhage following surgery. He was just 54 years old.