John Madden (director)

Madden was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. He was educated at Clifton College in Bristol. He was in the same house as Roger Michell, who became a friend and later also a director. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1970 with a B.A. in English Literature.^[3]

He started work in television, including directing Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect 4, episodes of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (ITV, 1984–1994),^[4] and Inspector Morse (1990–1995).

He directed the film Shakespeare in Love (1998), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and for which he was also nominated as Best Director.^[5] He lost to Steven Spielberg, who directed Saving Private Ryan. The film also won the Silver Bear at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.^[6]

Madden has since directed several films, including Proof (2005), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), and its sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015).^[3]

Madden is serving as a Jury Member for the digital studio Filmaka, a platform for undiscovered filmmakers to show their work to industry professionals.^[7]

• Poppyland (1984 UK TV film, Screen Two)
• Prime Suspect 4
• After The War (UK TV Series)
• Inspector Morse episodes
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes episodes
• The Widowmaker 1990
• Masters of Sex pilot^[8]

Plays he has directed include Arthur Kopit's Wings,^[9] and the world premiere in 1980 of Jules Feiffer's Grown Ups at the American Repertory Theatre.

Between 1981 and 1996, Madden directed a series of radio adaptations of Star Wars in a BBC/NPR co-production, which included versions of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1981), The Empire Strikes Back (1983) and Return of the Jedi (1996) scripted for radio by Brian Daley.^[10][11]

Before it was produced for the stage, Madden directed Wings for NPR's Earplay series, in a production that won the Prix Italia.