Matthew Vaughn

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Matthew Vaughn (born 7 March 1971 in Beverly Hills, California) is an American-born British film producer (Layer Cake, Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels among others), director (Layer Cake), and husband of Claudia Schiffer, whom he married in 2002. The couple have a son, Caspar Matthew, born January 30, 2003 and a daughter, Clementine, born November 11, 2004.

1 Ancestry
2 Early career
3 Film Career
4 Filmography
- 4.1 Directing Credits
- 4.2 Producing Credits
5 External links

[edit] Ancestry

Matthew Vaughn was brought up to believe that his biological father was the actor Robert Vaughn, who played Napoleon Solo in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Matthew's mother, the actress Kathy Ceaton, had been in a relationship with Robert Vaughn at the time of Matthew's conception and birth, but the relationship was at its breaking point and Robert Vaughn had always denied that he was Matthew's father. The paternity of Matthew Vaughn was resolved in the 1980s both scientifically and legally, in the Superior Court of Los Angeles. Matthew's biological father is in fact George Albert Harley Drummond (also known as George de Vere Drummond) a minor British aristocrat who is the godson to the late King George VI and godfather to model Jodie Kidd. Following the resolution, Matthew adopted (for private use) the name Matthew de Vere Drummond.

At the time of their marriage, there was some confusion in the press about the possibility of Vaughn's wife eventually becoming the Countess of Oxford, because her father in-law was in line of succession to the Earldom of Oxford and Mortimer. In fact however George Drummond is descended from the Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Mortimer through his son Thomas Harley (1730-1804) whose daughter Martha Harley (1760-1788) married one George Drummond (1758-1789) in 1779. Matthew's illegitimacy would bar him from succession. George Harley Drummond himself would not be in line for succession as he is not descended from the male line and furthermore the Harley family are no longer holders of the Earldom of Oxford and Mortimer. The male line ended with the death of Alfred Harley, 6th Earl of Oxford and Mortimer in 1853 and the title became extinct. A similarly named earldom, that of Oxford and Asquith, is now held by family of Herbert Asquith under the creation of 1925. George Albert Harley Drummond adopted the name 'de Vere' because that is the surname of the famous earls of Oxford who held the title (with interruptions) from 1135 to 1702 despite his having no family connection with the de Veres.

[edit] Early career

Born in Beverly Hills, California, Vaughn was educated at Stowe School in Buckingham, England. Taking a year off between Stowe and university, he traveled the world on a Hard Rock Café tour and landed back in Los Angeles, where he began working as an assistant to a director. He returned to London, attending University College London where he studied anthropology and ancient history. But the film bug had taken hold, he dropped out of university after a few weeks and returned to Los Angeles to start his career. He quickly realized, however, that everyone in town was trying to do the same thing, so he crossed back over the Atlantic to make a name for himself in England, where at 25 he produced a little-seen thriller, The Innocent Sleep (1995), starring Annabella Sciorra and Michael Gambon.

[edit] Film Career

Vaughn continued as a producer on close friend Guy Ritchie's film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. The film was a success in all aspects; earning both Vaughn and Ritchie £9million each. Vaughn would go on to produce Ritchie's equally acclaimed Snatch and the critically mauled Swept Away. Vaughn made his directorial debut in 2004 with Layer Cake. The film was well received and its success led to Vaughn being tapped to direct X-Men 3 but he later dropped out only two weeks before filming began. Vaughn will next direct Stardust.