Anthony Minghella: producer, playwright, screenwriter

Born in Ryde to parents Edward, or rather Edoardo of Italian extraction, and Yorkshire lass Gloria née Arcari, her surname also betraying Italian antecedents, Anthony Minghella grew up in a family well known on the island for running a café until the 1980s, having also done well out of producing and selling Italian ice cream from its own factory. Ryde is the island’s largest holiday resort and chief entry port. It has the hustle and bustle Minghella would have appreciated; lots of comings and goings to enthuse a fertile mind. He was one of five siblings, his three sisters including Loretta, who’s been Master of Clare College, Cambridge since 2021, whilst his brother Dominic also became a producer and screenwriter, his most notable project being hit TV series Doc Martin. The eponymous lead character, Martin Ellingham, has a surname that is cleverly an anagram of, well, you guessed it, Minghella.

Anthony attended St Mary’s Catholic Primary in Ryde, then Sandown Grammar, before heading across the Solent to continue his studies at St John’s College, Portsmouth. Early on a career in music beckoned as Minghella played keyboards with a couple of local bands, his love of music developed on the Isle of Wight where there was a lively pop scene, but when he became an undergraduate at Hull University it was Drama he studied. As Minghella himself acknowledged there was a crossover from writing songs to writing plays, one he accomplished. Graduating after three years, Minghella stayed on for PhD studies which he abandoned in favour of a career at the BBC. He also taught at the university over several years.

Ryde, Isle of Wight, the birthplace of Anthony Minghella in January 1954 (Image: Lloyd Rowling) Minghella’s debut came with a stage adaptation of Mobius the Stripper (1975) when he was just 21 but it was his White Music ten years later that got him noticed (1985), the year after he’d been named ‘Most Promising Playwright of the Year’ by the London Theatre Critics. He was married to Hong Kong-born choreographer Carolyn Choa in that same year of 1985, a partnership that lasted until Minghella’s death almost two dozen years later. He’d previously been married to Yvonne Miller, a student romance that ended in divorce. Minghella had two children, Max and Hannah, both of whom followed their father into the movie business with Max appearing in the drama series The Handmaid’s Tale. Meanwhile, a pair of Samuel Beckett plays afforded Minghella his directorial debut whilst his first feature film as a director was A Little Like Drowning (1978). His career continued on TV during the 1980s, including writing several episodes of popular detective series Inspector Morse. He also wrote the play Made in Bangkok which conferred on him his West End debut as a playwright, at the Aldwych Theatre in March 1986, and achieved mainstream success. Those London Theatre Critics were onside again, bestowing their award for Best Play.

Among other films, Minghella directed Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), The English Patient (1996), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) and Cold Mountain (2003). He also produced Iris (2001), the biopic of authoress Iris Murdoch, starring Dame Judy Dench, Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent. The films he directed garnered a total of ten Oscars from 24 nominations, his most successful movie by far being The English Patient which won nine of these prestigious Academy Awards from 12 nominations, with Minghella himself picking up the Oscar for Best Director; he readily admitted that he’d reached the peak of his powers with this one.

Anthony Minghella on the set of The English Patient with Kristin Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes (Image: Movie Stills Database) His dedication to the art was legendary; for The English Patient he literally shut himself away for 18 months, hermit-like, so he could concentrate on writing. These films also won ten BAFTAs and three Golden Globes. Minghella was nominated for three further Oscars, one of them posthumously. The thing was you always knew you were in for a treat with a Minghella film; he never once let his audiences down. His movies were well-crafted, literate, well-performed and blessed with first-rate production. He was modest though about his accomplishments as a director: ‘I had never thought of myself as a director and found out that I was not. I am a writer who was able to direct the films that I write’, adding that ‘I never feel more myself than when I’m writing, I never enjoy any day more than a good writing day’.

Minghella was made a CBE in 2001 then served as Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. His political leanings meanwhile were signposted in 2005 when he directed a party election broadcast for the Labour Party which featured Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Whether it played any part in Blair’s third General Election win is impossible to say. In the same year Minghella made his operatic directing debut with Puccini’s Madame Butterfly which premiered at the English National Opera (2005). He also made a cameo appearance in the 2007 film Atonement playing a TV host whilst his final work was the screenplay for the film adaptation of the musical Nine.

Fratton Park, the home ground of Portsmouth FC. Anthony Minghella was a passionate fan of the club and collector of its memorabilia (Image: TimSC) Anthony Minghella died on March 18, 2008 aged 54. He has The Anthony Minghella Theatre named after him at the Quay Arts Centre, back on his native Isle of Wight, whilst the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading, which opened in 2012, was also named in his honour. He also has a plaque commemorating him in Ryde’s Western Gardens, which was unveiled by actor Jude Law in 2016; the two men frequently worked together.

Minghella was a passionate follower of Portsmouth FC and collected memorabilia associated with the famous old club which had been founded in 1898. He was also a lover of Bach and of life, a man with massive intellect, a gentle wit and someone who never used his success and wealth to make anyone feel inferior. Anthony Minghella was also proud of his roots. When he won that Oscar and delivered his trademark acceptance speech in 1997 he came out with: ‘It’s my daughter’s 18th birthday today – happy birthday Hannah! This is a great day for the Isle of Wight today’. Indeed, it was.

CHRONOLOGY

1954 – Anthony Minghella born in Ryde, Isle of Wight (January 6).

1975 – Minghella’s debut with stage adaptation of Mobius the Stripper.

1978 – First feature film as a director, A Little Like Drowning.

1984 – Named Most Promising Playwright of the Year by the London Theatre Critics.

1985 – Second marriage to Hong Kong-born choreographer Carolyn Choa.

1986 – West End Debut with Made in Bangkok which picks up the Best Play award.

1996 – Minghella’s most successful film, The English Patient, for which he wins an Oscar.

2003 – Becomes Chairman of the Board of Governors at the British Film Institute.

2005 – Operatic directing debut as Madame Butterfly premiers.

2008 – Death of Anthony Minghella in London (March 18) aged 54.