Sam Mendes
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| Sam Mendes | |
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| Born | Samuel Alexander Mendes 1 August 1965 Reading, Berkshire, England |
| Other name(s) | Midas Mendes |
| Years active | 1993 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Kate Winslet (2003-) |
Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an Academy Award-winning English stage and film director. As a stage director, he is probably best known for his 1998 production of Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming. As a film director, he is best known for his debut film, American Beauty, for which he won an Academy Award for Directing. In 2000, Mendes was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He is of Portuguese descent.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Career
Mendes first attracted attention for his assured production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard in the West End starring Judi Dench. He was under 25. Soon he was directing plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company where his productions, many of them featuring Simon Russell Beale, included Troilus and Cressida, Richard III and The Tempest. These productions were praised for their clarity, intelligence and stylishness.
He has also worked at the Royal National Theatre, directing Edward Bond's The Sea, Jim Cartwright's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, and Othello with Simon Russell Beale as Iago.
In 1992 he was appointed artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, an intimate studio space in London's West End which he quickly transformed into one of the most exciting venues in the city. His opening production was Stephen Sondheim's Assassins which revelled in the show's dark, comic brilliance and rescued it from the critical opprobrium it had suffered on its American opening. He followed this with a series of excellent classic revivals, many of which attracted some of the finest actors and biggest stars of the decade. Among Mendes's best productions were John Kander and Fred Ebb's Cabaret, Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, Stephen Sondheim's Company, Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus and his farewell duo of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night, which transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As artistic director Mendes also gave some of the country's finest younger directors the opportunity to do some of their best work: Matthew Warchus's production of Sam Shepard's True West, Katie Mitchell's of Beckett's Endgame, David Leveaux's of Sophocles's Elektra and Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing were amongst the most critically acclaimed of the decade. The Donmar's present artistic director Michael Grandage directed some of the key productions of the later part of Mendes's tenure, including Peter Nichols's Passion Play and Privates on Parade and Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.
[edit] Theatre Career Highlights
- 1990: Began directing for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
- 1992: became artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre
- 1994: directed revival of Oliver! (with score specially revised and added to by the original composer and lyricist, Lionel Bart) at the London Palladium; the show ran for four years, becoming, on 8 July 1997, the longest-running show at that venue.
- 1994: directed revival of Cabaret
- 1998: directed David Hare's The Blue Room, starring Nicole Kidman (and Iain Glen).
- 2003: directed a Broadway revival of Gypsy, starring Bernadette Peters.
- 2003: started film and theatre production company, Neal Street Productions, with Pippa Harris and Caro Newling.
[edit] Theatre Awards
- Won a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Newcomer after directing Judi Dench in The Cherry Orchard.
- 1995: won Olivier Award for Best Director for The Glass Menagerie
- 1996: won Olivier Award for Best Director of a Musical for Company
- 1998: revival of Cabaret opens on Broadway; wins four Tony Awards, including Best Musical (Revival)
- 2003: won Olivier Award for Best Director for Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night
[edit] Directing Career
[edit] American Beauty
Sam Mendes made his directorial debut with the box office/critically acclaimed film American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey. The film grossed $356,298,601 worldwide. The film won the Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Picture. Mendes won the Golden Globe Award, the Academy Award and the director's guild of America for American Beauty.
[edit] Road to Perdition
Mendes directed his second film in 2002 in the film Road to Perdition. The film gross $181,001,478. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 82%, and praised Paul Newman for his performance. The film got nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor, and won one for Best Cinematography.
[edit] Jarhead
In 2005, Mendes directed the warfilm Jarhead. The film received mixed reviews, and Rotten Tomatoes gave the film 60%, and gross $96,889,998 worldwide. The film was not placed as one of the best war film dramas of all time because it did not concentrate on many of the soldiers.
[edit] Revolutionary Road
Mendes next film is based on the novel by Richard Yates Revolutionary Road, starting Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates. The film will be release in December 17, 2008.
[edit] Farlanders (working title)
As of May 2008, Mendes was directing scenes for Farlanders, the working title of a film about a couple searching across North America for the perfect community in which to settle down and raise children. The film stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, and was written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Scenes taking place in Montreal, Colorado and Arizona were filmed in Stamford, Connecticut in the New York City suburbs.[1]
[edit] Personal life
After a string of romances with actresses including Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, Jane Horrocks, and Rachel Weisz, Mendes married English actress Kate Winslet on 24 May 2003 in Anguilla in the Caribbean. Their first child, Joe Alfie Winslet-Mendes, was born on 22 December 2004. Mendes also has a stepdaughter, Mia Honey Threapleton, from Winslet's first marriage to assistant director Jim Threapleton. The family now lives in New York City and Ascott-under-Wychwood, England.
[edit] Films
Director
| Year | Film | Oscar nominations | Oscar wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | American Beauty | 8 | 5 |
| 2002 | Road to Perdition | 6 | 1 |
| 2005 | Jarhead | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road | ||
| 2009 | Middlemarch |
Producer
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Road to Perdition | |
| 2006 | Starter for Ten | (executive producer) |
| 2007 | The Kite Runner | (executive producer) |
| Things We Lost in the Fire | ||
| 2008 | Revolutionary Road |
[edit] Recurring motifs
- Through his first three feature films a narrator voiceover begins and ends the movie: Lester in American Beauty, Michael in Road to Perdition and Swofford in Jarhead.
- Often casts Chris Cooper.
- So far has enlisted Thomas Newman to score all of his films, acquiring Academy Award nominations for both American Beauty and Road to Perdition.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ King, Kate, special correspondent, "Credits turn Stamford into town of a thousand places: Film crew dresses city as Montreal, Arizona, Colorado for project", article, The Advocate of Stamford, June 1, 2008, pp 1, A8
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Steven Spielberg for Saving Private Ryan |
Academy Award for Best Director 1999 for American Beauty |
Succeeded by Steven Soderbergh for Traffic |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Steven Spielberg for Saving Private Ryan |
Golden Globe Award for Best Director 1999 for American Beauty |
Succeeded by Ang Lee for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| Preceded by Trevor Nunn for The Merchant of Venice and Summerfolk |
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director 1996 for Company and The Glass Menagerie |
Succeeded by Des McAnuff for The Who's Tommy |
| Preceded by Michael Boyd and Henry VI and Richard III |
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director 2003 for Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya |
Succeeded by Michael Grandage for Caligula |
| Preceded by Sir Peter Hall |
Laurence Olivier Society Special Award 2003 |
Succeeded by Dame Judi Dench |
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