Peter Morgan (screenwriter)
Encyclopedia
Peter Morgan is an English
film writer
and playwright
best known for writing the films and plays The Deal, The Queen
, Frost/Nixon
, and The Special Relationship
.
Jew who fled the Nazis, and his mother Inga a Catholic Pole who fled the Soviets. His father died when Morgan was aged 9. Morgan attended boarding school at Downside School
, Somerset, and gained a degree in Fine Art from the University of Leeds
.
Presents... and the Comedy Premiere The Chest. He wrote the screenplay to the romantic comedy Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
(1998) and had some success with the TV series The Jury
(2002). He broke through with The Deal, a 2003 television drama about the power-sharing deal
between Tony Blair
and Gordon Brown
that was struck in the Granita
restaurant in London. He received his Academy Award-nomination for The Deal' s follow-up, The Queen
(2006) that showed how the death of Princess Diana
impacted Blair and the Royal Family
. His work on the film awarded him a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press, and Helen Mirren
won numerous awards for playing the title role
.
2006 also saw the release of The Last King of Scotland
, the screenplay of which Morgan adapted with Jeremy Brock
. In 2007 they jointly won a BAFTA Film Award
for their work on the film.
Also in 2006, Morgan's first play, Frost/Nixon, was staged at the Donmar Warehouse
theatre in London. Starring Michael Sheen
as David Frost
and Frank Langella
as Richard Nixon
, the play concerns the series of televised interviews that the disgraced former president granted Frost in 1977. These ended with his tacit admission of guilt regarding his role in the Watergate scandal
. The play was directed by Michael Grandage
and opened to enthusiastic reviews.
In May 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honoured Morgan with the year's Kanbar Award for Excellence in Screenwriting.
In July 2009, filming begins on The Special Relationship, the third film of Morgan's "Blair trilogy". The film focuses on Blair's (again played by Michael Sheen) relationship with U.S president Bill Clinton
between 1997 and 2000. Morgan was originally scheduled to direct the film (making his directorial debut) but pulled out a month before filming began. He was replaced by Richard Loncraine
. In 2008 Morgan adapted John le Carré
's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
into a screenplay for Working Title Films
.
He has since finished the script for Hereafter
, a supernatural thriller "in the vein of The Sixth Sense
". DreamWorks
bought the screenplay on spec
in March 2008. The development was later transferred to Warner Bros.
, and filming began in October 2009 under the direction of Clint Eastwood
.
In 2008 the film Frost/Nixon, with Sheen and Langella playing the parts they had on stage, opened in the United States and Great Britain to excellent reviews.
In June 2009, it was announced that he would be the co-writer of the 23rd James Bond
film. The Daily Telegraph
s Mandrake diary reported in April 2010 that Morgan had quit the production after Sam Mendes
was hired to direct, and that Patrick Marber
would replace him. MGM dismissed the Telegraphs claims as speculation.
Morgan has recently started writing the screenplay for an upcoming biopic
about rock musician Freddie Mercury
, the lead vocalist, and songwriter, for the rock band Queen
.
, south London, with his Austria
n wife Lila Schwarzenberg (HSH Princess Anna Carolina of Schwarzenberg, daughter of Czech politician Karel Schwarzenberg
) and their daughters and three sons. Peter Morgan and his family relocated to Vienna
in the winter of 2006.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
film writer
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
best known for writing the films and plays The Deal, The Queen
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
, Frost/Nixon
Frost/Nixon (film)
Frost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play by Peter Morgan which dramatizes the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard and produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working...
, and The Special Relationship
The Special Relationship (film)
The Special Relationship is a 2010 American-British political film directed by Richard Loncraine from a screenplay by Peter Morgan. It is the third film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair , following The Deal and The...
.
Early life
Morgan was born in London, the son of refugees; his father Arthur Morgenthau was a GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Jew who fled the Nazis, and his mother Inga a Catholic Pole who fled the Soviets. His father died when Morgan was aged 9. Morgan attended boarding school at Downside School
Downside School
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...
, Somerset, and gained a degree in Fine Art from the University of Leeds
University of Leeds
The University of Leeds is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England...
.
Career
Morgan wrote television scripts throughout the 1990s, including an episode of Rik MayallRik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
Presents... and the Comedy Premiere The Chest. He wrote the screenplay to the romantic comedy Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence is a 1998 British romantic comedy directed by Nick Hamm...
(1998) and had some success with the TV series The Jury
The Jury (TV serial)
The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002 . The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.-Series One:...
(2002). He broke through with The Deal, a 2003 television drama about the power-sharing deal
Blair-Brown deal
The Blair–Brown deal was an alleged gentlemen's agreement made between the British politicians Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in the summer of 1994...
between Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
and Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
that was struck in the Granita
Granita (restaurant)
Granita was a restaurant in Islington, London, England. In late May 1994 it was the alleged setting for the "Blair-Brown deal" between the then shadow Home Secretary Tony Blair and the then shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown....
restaurant in London. He received his Academy Award-nomination for The Deal
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
(2006) that showed how the death of Princess Diana
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
On 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fayed's...
impacted Blair and the Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
. His work on the film awarded him a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press, and Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
won numerous awards for playing the title role
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
.
2006 also saw the release of The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of Scotland (film)
The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name, adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin Macdonald...
, the screenplay of which Morgan adapted with Jeremy Brock
Jeremy Brock
Jeremy Brock is an English actor, producer, writer, fisher and director whose works include the screenplays Mrs. Brown, Driving Lessons, Last King of Scotland, and Charlotte Gray....
. In 2007 they jointly won a BAFTA Film Award
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
for their work on the film.
Also in 2006, Morgan's first play, Frost/Nixon, was staged at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
theatre in London. Starring Michael Sheen
Michael Sheen
Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
as David Frost
David Frost
Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
and Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
as Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, the play concerns the series of televised interviews that the disgraced former president granted Frost in 1977. These ended with his tacit admission of guilt regarding his role in the Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement...
. The play was directed by Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage
Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
and opened to enthusiastic reviews.
In May 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honoured Morgan with the year's Kanbar Award for Excellence in Screenwriting.
In July 2009, filming begins on The Special Relationship, the third film of Morgan's "Blair trilogy". The film focuses on Blair's (again played by Michael Sheen) relationship with U.S president Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
between 1997 and 2000. Morgan was originally scheduled to direct the film (making his directorial debut) but pulled out a month before filming began. He was replaced by Richard Loncraine
Richard Loncraine
Richard Loncraine is a British film and television director.Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing items for Tomorrow's World...
. In 2008 Morgan adapted John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence...
into a screenplay for Working Title Films
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...
.
He has since finished the script for Hereafter
Hereafter (film)
Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays...
, a supernatural thriller "in the vein of The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense
The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film tells the story of Cole Sear , a troubled, isolated boy who is able to see and talk to the dead, and an equally troubled child psychologist who tries to help him...
". DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
bought the screenplay on spec
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
in March 2008. The development was later transferred to Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, and filming began in October 2009 under the direction of Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
.
In 2008 the film Frost/Nixon, with Sheen and Langella playing the parts they had on stage, opened in the United States and Great Britain to excellent reviews.
In June 2009, it was announced that he would be the co-writer of the 23rd James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film. The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
s Mandrake diary reported in April 2010 that Morgan had quit the production after Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
was hired to direct, and that Patrick Marber
Patrick Marber
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
would replace him. MGM dismissed the Telegraphs claims as speculation.
Morgan has recently started writing the screenplay for an upcoming biopic
A Kind of Magic (film)
A Kind of Magic is an upcoming film starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Queen front man Freddie Mercury. It will chronicle the band years leading up to their performance at Live Aid in 1985....
about rock musician Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
, the lead vocalist, and songwriter, for the rock band Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
.
Personal life
He lived in BatterseaBattersea
Battersea is an area of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is an inner-city district of South London, situated on the south side of the River Thames, 2.9 miles south-west of Charing Cross. Battersea spans from Fairfield in the west to Queenstown in the east...
, south London, with his Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n wife Lila Schwarzenberg (HSH Princess Anna Carolina of Schwarzenberg, daughter of Czech politician Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg , 7...
) and their daughters and three sons. Peter Morgan and his family relocated to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in the winter of 2006.
Television
- Shalom Joan Collins (1989) (co-writer)
- Rik Mayall Presents… (1993) (1 episode: "Mickey Love")
- Comedy Premieres: The Chest (1997)
- Metropolis (2000)
- The JuryThe Jury (TV serial)The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002 . The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.-Series One:...
(2002) - The Deal (2003)
- Henry VIIIHenry VIII (TV serial)Henry VIII is a two-part British television serial produced principally by Granada Television for ITV. It chronicles the life of Henry VIII of England from the disintegration of his first marriage to an aging Spanish princess until his death following a stroke in 1547, by which time he had married...
(2003) - Colditz (2005)
- LongfordLongford (film)Longford is a 2006 drama television film directed by Tom Hooper and written by Peter Morgan.The film centres on Labour Party peer Lord Longford and his campaign for the parole of Moors Murderer Myra Hindley....
(2006) - The Special RelationshipThe Special Relationship (film)The Special Relationship is a 2010 American-British political film directed by Richard Loncraine from a screenplay by Peter Morgan. It is the third film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair , following The Deal and The...
(2010) - The Jury II (2011)
Theatre
- Pax Britannica (1986) (co-writer)
- Frost/Nixon (2006)
Film
- Dear RosieDear RosieDear Rosie is a British short subject directed by Peter Cattaneo from a script by Peter Morgan and Mark Wadlow. The plot follows Rosie, played by Fiona Victory, an unsuccessful novelist who begins receiving letters from overweight people after her agent publishes her diet tips.Cattaneo directed...
(1990) (short; co-writer) - King RalphKing RalphKing Ralph is a 1991 American comedy film starring John Goodman in the title role of Ralph Jones. The movie also stars Peter O'Toole as the King's private secretary, Sir Cedric Willingham, Camille Coduri as Ralph's girlfriend Miranda Greene, and John Hurt as the British peer Percival Graves, who...
(1991) (rewrites) - The Silent Touch (1992) (co-writer)
- Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and LaurenceMartha, Meet Frank, Daniel and LaurenceMartha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence is a 1998 British romantic comedy directed by Nick Hamm...
(1998) - The QueenThe Queen (film)The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
(2006) - The Last King of ScotlandThe Last King of Scotland (film)The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name, adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin Macdonald...
(2006) (co-writer) - The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
- Frost/NixonFrost/Nixon (film)Frost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play by Peter Morgan which dramatizes the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard and produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working...
(2008) - The Damned UnitedThe Damned UnitedThe Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's tenure as manager of Leeds United...
(2009) - State of PlayState of Play (film)State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
(2009) (rewrites) - HereafterHereafter (film)Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays...
(2010) - 360360 (film)360 is an upcoming film starring Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, and Jude Law. The film will, directed by Fernando Meirelles, is set to open the 2011 London Film Festival.-Production:...
(2011) - Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, SpyTinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (film)Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a 2011 English-language espionage film directed by Tomas Alfredson, from a screenplay written by Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan based on the 1974 novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré...
(2011) - A Kind of MagicA Kind of Magic (film)A Kind of Magic is an upcoming film starring Sacha Baron Cohen as Queen front man Freddie Mercury. It will chronicle the band years leading up to their performance at Live Aid in 1985....
(2012) - Skyfall (2012) (co-writer)
- Three Sixty
External links
- Profile in the Observer, September 2006
- Peter Morgan: Screenwriting Lecture part of the BAFTA Screenwriters on Screenwriting series.