Curtis, Richard 1956–

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CURTIS, Richard 1956

PERSONAL

Full name, Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis; born November 8, 1956, in Wellington, New Zealand; son of Anthony J. and Glyness S. Curtis; companion of Emma Vallency Freud (a journalist, writer, and editor); children: Scarlett Kate, and two sons. Education: Attended American schools in Manila, Philippines, and Stockholm, Sweden; Christ Church, Oxford, B.A., 1978.

Addresses: Agent Anthony Jones, Peters, Fraser, & Dunlop, Drury House, 3443 Russell St., London WC2B 5HA, England.

Career: Writer and producer. Comic Relief (charitable organization), executive and producer of television specials for broadcast by BBC (England), 198596.

Awards, Honors: Television Award, best comedy series (with others), British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1990, for Blackadder Goes Forth; Top Comedy Writer Award, British Comedy Awards, 1993; Writer's Guild of Great Britain Award, 1994, Film Award, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Academy Award nomination, Golden Globe Award nomination, Cesar Award, Academie des Arts et Techniques du Cinema, Evening Standard British Film Award, Australian Academy Award, London Critics Circle Award, and Screen Award, Writers Guild of America, all 1995, all best original screenplay, and American Film Institute Award, best foreign film, 1995, all for Four Weddings and a Funeral; decorated member, Order of the British Empire, 1994, and commander, 1999; International Emmy Award, 1998, Television Award nomination, best comedy (with others), 1998, and Special Television Award, best comedy program or series (with others), 1999, both British Academy of Film and Television Arts, all for The Vicar of Dibley; Peter Sellers Award for Comedy, Evening Standard Awards, c. 1999, for Notting Hill; named British Independent Film variety personality of the year, 2001; Entertainment Personality Award, British Independent Film Awards, 2001; Film Award nomination, best adapted screenplay, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Screen Award nomination, best adapted screenplay, Writers Guild of America, London Critics Circle Film Award, British screenwriter of the year, Evening Standard British Film Award, best screenplay, and Scripter Award nomination, University of Southern California, all (with others), 2002, for Bridget Jones's Diary; Golden Globe Award nomination, best motion picture screenplay, and nomination for Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film (with others), British Academy of Film and Television Arts, both 2004, for Love Actually; shared Emmy awards, Annual CableACE awards, National Cable Television Association, and Television awards, best comedy series, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, all for Blackadder and its successors; Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award, Writers Guild of Great Britain.

CREDITS

Film Work:

Coexecutive producer, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Gramercy, 1994.

Creator and executive producer, Bean (also known as Bean: The Movie and Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie ), Gramercy, 1997.

Executive producer, Notting Hill, MCA/Universal, 1999, published by Hodder & Stoughton, 1999.

Executive producer, Comic Relief: Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death (also known as Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death ), 1999.

Executive producer and director, Love Actually, Universal, 2003.

Film Appearances:

(Uncredited) Man in corridor, The Tall Guy, Virgin Vision, 1989.

Television Work; Series:

Creator and coexecutive producer, The Vicar of Dibley, BBC, 19941996.

Television Work; Miniseries:

Creator, Blackadder (also known as The Black Adder ), BBC (England), 1983.

Creator, Blackadder II, BBC, 1986.

Creator (with others), Blackadder III (also known as Blackadder the Third ), BBC, 1987.

Creator, Blackadder Goes Forth, BBC, 1989.

Executive producer, Bernard and the Genie, BBC1 (England), 1992.

Television Executive Producer; Specials:

Hooves of Fire (also known as Robbie and Reindeer in Hooves of Fire ), CBS, 1999.

Legend of the Lost Tribe (also known as Robbie the Reindeer in Legend of the Lost Tribe ), CBS, 2002.

Television Appearances; Specials:

The Story of Bean, 1997.

McBeal Appeal, Channel 4 (England), 1999.

The Not the Nine O'Clock News Story, BBC (England), 1999.

Comic Relief 2003: The Big Hair Do, BBC, 2003.

The British Comedy Awards 2003, 2003.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Laughter in the House: The Story of British Sitcom, 1999.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Guest, Film '72, BBC (England), 2003.

WRITINGS

Screenplays:

Dead on Time, 1982.

The Tall Guy, Virgin Vision, 1989.

Four Weddings and a Funeral, Gramercy, 1994.

(With Robin Driscoll) Bean (also known as Bean: The Movie and Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie; also based on a story by Curtis), Gramercy, 1997.

Notting Hill, MCA/Universal, 1999.

(With Andrew Davies and Helen Fielding) Bridget Jones's Diary (also known as Le Journal de Bridget Jones ), Miramax/Universal, 2001.

Love Actually, Universal, 2003.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Miramax/Universal, 2004.

Television Series; with Others:

Not the Nine O'Clock News, BBC (England), 19791983.

Composer, The Lenny Henry Show, BBC, 1985.

Mr. Bean, ITV (England), 19901995, then HBO, 19921994.

The Vicar of Dibley, BBC, 19941996.

Ohh Nooo!!!! Mr. Bill Presents (also known as Mr. Bill Presents ), Fox Family Channel, 1998.

Mr. Bean (animated), 2002.

Also writer for the series Spitting Image, ITV.

Television Miniseries; with Others:

Blackadder (also known as The Black Adder ), BBC (England), 1983.

Blackadder II, BBC, 1986.

Blackadder III (also known as Blackadder the Third ), BBC, 1987.

Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, 1988.

Blackadder Goes Forth, BBC, 1989.

Bernard and the Genie, BBC1 (England), 1992.

Television Specials:

(Including the song "Do Bears") Comic Relief (also known as The Utterly Utterly Rude Video Live ), BBC (England), 1986.

Blackadder's Christmas Carol, BBC, then Arts and Entertainment, 1989.

"Rowan Atkinson: Not Just Another Pretty Face" (also known as "Rowan Atkinson Live,""Rowan Atkinson: Not Just a Pretty Face," and "Rowan Atkinson on Location in Boston"), HBO Comedy Hour, HBO, 1992.

Merry Christmas Mr. Bean, 1992.

Blackadder Back & Forth, PBS, 1999.

Hooves of Fire (also known as Robbie the Reindeer in Hooves of Fire ), CBS, 1999.

One Night with Robbie Williams, BBC, 2001.

Also writer for The Robbie Coltrane Special.

Television Writing; Other:

(Contributor) Hysteria 2!, 1989.

Stage Plays:

(With Rowan Atkinson and Ben Elton) Rowan Atkinson at the Atkinson, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1986.

Also wrote an adaptation of Don Quixote.

Videos:

The Best Bits of Mr. Bean, 1997.

(Contributor) French & Saunders Live, French & Saunders Productions, 2000.

Books:

(With Simon Bell and Helen Fielding) Who's Had Who: An Historical Register Containing Official Lay Lines of History from the Beginning of Time to the Present Day, Faber, 1987, Warner Books, 1990.

Four Weddings and a Funeral: Four Appendices and a Screenplay, Corgi, 1994, published as Four Weddings and a Funeral, St. Martin's Press, 1996.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Contemporary Authors, Volume 157, Gale, 1998.

Periodicals:

Guardian, April 29, 1999.

Independent, November 13, 2003; November 15, 2003.

Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1997.

Premiere, December, 2003.

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Curtis, Richard 1956–

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