Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan CBE | |
---|---|
Born | Wimbledon, London, England | 10 April 1963
Occupation | Screenwriter, playwright |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Leeds |
Period | 1988–present |
Genre | Comedy, drama, historical fiction |
Notable works | The Queen Frost/Nixon Rush The Crown |
Spouse | Anna Carolina Schwarzenberg
(m. 1997; sep. 2014) |
Partner | Gillian Anderson (2016–2020) |
Children | 5 |
Peter Julian Robin Morgan, CBE (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. Morgan is best known for his work on stage and film and television. He's known as the playwright behind The Audience and Frost/Nixon and the screenwriter of The Queen (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008), The Damned United (2009), and Rush (2013). He is also known for writing the television films The Deal (2003), Longford (2006), and The Special Relationship (2009). He currently serves as creator and showrunner of the Netflix series The Crown (2016–present).
In February 2017, Morgan was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship (BFI).[1]
Early life[]
Morgan was born in Wimbledon, London. His mother, Inga (née Bojcek), was a Catholic Pole who fled the Soviets, and his father, Arthur Morgenthau, was a German Jew who fled the Nazis, arriving in London in 1933.[2][3] His father died when Morgan was nine years old.[4] Morgan attended St Paul's School in London[5] and boarding school at Downside School, Somerset, and gained a degree in Fine Art from the University of Leeds.
Career[]
1990s[]
Morgan wrote television scripts during the 1990s, including an episode of Rik Mayall Presents... and the Comedy Premiere The Chest. He wrote the screenplay to the romantic comedy Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998).
2000s[]
In 2002, Morgan had some success with the TV series The Jury (2002). In 2003, Morgan broke through with The Deal, a television drama about the power-sharing deal between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that was struck in the Granita restaurant in London in 1994. Blair was portrayed by Michael Sheen, Sheen would return to playing Blair in The Queen and The Special Relationship.
In 2006, The Queen was released which showed how the death of Princess Diana impacted Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Royal Family. The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival where it received critical acclaim. The film received 6 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. Morgan also received a nomination for Best Screenplay. Morgan received the Golden Globe Award for his screenplay from the Hollywood Foreign Press, and Helen Mirren won numerous awards for playing the title role including the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award. 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. In May 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honoured Morgan with the year's Kanbar Award for Excellence in Screenwriting.
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. The play transferred to Broadway in 2007 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre where it ran from April 21st to August 19th. The play received 3 Tony Awards including one for Morgan for the Best Play. Langella won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.
In 2008 the film adaptation of Frost/Nixon directed by Ron Howard was released, with Sheen and Langella playing the parts they had on stage. The film also starred Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall, Mathew Macfadyen, Toby Jones, Oliver Platt, and Sam Rockwell. The film debuted at the London Film Festival to critical acclaim. Roger Ebert gave the film 4 stars writing praising the writing and the performances of the leads saying, "Frank Langella and Michael Sheen do not attempt to mimic their characters, but to embody them".[6] Despite praise from critics the film was a box office failure. The film received 5 Academy Award nominations including Best Adapted Screenplay for Morgan.
In July 2009, filming began 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 US president Bill Clinton, played by Dennis Quaid, 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.[7] The film debuted on HBO on May 29, 2010. The film received positive reviews with it receiving an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus reading, "Well-cast and compellingly directed, The Special Relationship offers an intelligent look into the complex dynamic between two world leaders."[8] The film received 5 Primetime Emmy Award nominations including, one for Morgan for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Television Movie.
In 2008 Morgan was initially set to adapt the John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy into a screenplay for Working Title Films but dropped out and served as the film's executive producer.[9] In June 2009, it was announced that he would be the co-writer of Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film.[10] 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 Telegraph's claims as speculation.[11] In the end Morgan did not receive credit but rather it was Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan who were credited as the film's screenwriters. 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.[12] The development was later transferred to Warner Bros. and filming began in October 2009 under the direction of Clint Eastwood.
2010s[]
In 2013, the film Rush was released. The film is a biographical sports film centred on the Hunt–Lauda rivalry between two Formula One drivers, the British James Hunt and the Austrian Niki Lauda during the 1976 Formula 1 motor-racing season.[13] The film was directed by Ron Howard and written by Morgan and starred Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, and Olivia Wilde. The film was a financial and critical success. The film received four British Academy Film Award nominations including Outstanding British Film.
In 2013, Morgan's play The Audience debuted. The play revolves around the weekly meetings, called audiences, between Queen Elizabeth II and her prime ministers over the time period of her reign. Dame Helen Mirren reprised her role as the Queen. The play premiered in the West End at the Gielgud Theatre where she eventually won the Olivier Award for Best Actress. A Broadway production opened in 2015 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre which ran from March 8 to June 15. Mirren also received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.
Morgan's next feature film would be Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), a biopic about rock musician Freddie Mercury (portrayed by Rami Malek), the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen was released.[14] Morgan has started writing the screenplay in 2010. The film was a massive box office success earning $903.7 million. The film however received a mixed critical response with critics praising Malek's central performances but criticizing its editing, directing and pacing. Time Magazine film critic Stephanie Zacharek wrote, "In strict filmmaking terms, Bohemian Rhapsody is a bit of a mess. Some of its scenes connect awkwardly, and it hits every beat of disaster and triumphs squarely, like a gong."[15] Despite its criticism, the film received various awards including four Academy Awards for Best Actor, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing.
Morgan is the creator and writer of the Netflix historical drama series The Crown, a biographical story about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The first season starred Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, as Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Princess Margaret. Jared Harris, and John Lithgow made supporting turns as King George VI, and Winston Churchill. The series has received widespread critical acclaim and received multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations including a wins for Foy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and Lithgow for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. The casts saw changes for Seasons 3 and 4 with Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter replacing, Foy, Smith, and Kirby. Morgan has received 3 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for writing the episodes, "Assassins", "Mystery Man", and "Aberfan".
2020s[]
On November 15, 2020 the fourth series of The Crown was released to critical acclaim. According to the review-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds 96% critics’ consensus making it the highest rated series out of the four so far.[16]
The season marks the introduction of Emma Corrin as Princess Diana and Gillian Anderson as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Helena Bonham Carter and Josh O’Connor reprising their roles as Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Princess Margaret and Prince Charles respectively.
The fourth season has received many awards including AFI Television Program of the Year for the fourth time in a row, four Golden Globes wins including Best TV Series (in the last 40 years only another Drama Series, The Sopranos managed to achieve the same result in 2000), a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Drama and 10 BAFTA nominations including Best Drama. Morgan personally received a WGA Award for Best Drama and a PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama.
Season 5 and 6 of The Crown are currently in production and will likely be released at the end of 2022 and 2023 respectively. Season six will be the last one according to creator Peter Morgan.[17] Imelda Staunton, Jonathan Pryce and Lesley Manville have been confirmed in the roles of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Princess Margaret. Princess Diana will be played by Elizabeth Debicki and according to rumours[18] Prince Charles will be played by Dominic West.
Personal life[]
Morgan married Princess Anna Carolina von Schwarzenberg, daughter of Czech politician and nobleman Prince Karl von Schwarzenberg, civilly in London on 28 July 1997 and religiously at Murau in Austria on 6 September 1997. They have five children. They lived in Battersea, South London until the winter of 2006, when the family moved to Vienna.[19] They separated in 2014, and he resides in London. Morgan was in a relationship with actress Gillian Anderson from summer 2016 until December 2020.
Morgan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.[20] In February 2017, he was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship (BFI).[1] In November 2019 Morgan was honoured by the American Film Institute with a tribute to his career at the AFI FEST 2019.[21] In July 2016 Morgan was presented with an Honorary Degree in Letters by the University of Leeds, his alma mater.[22]
List of works[]
Film[]
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1988 | Madame Sousatzka | Additional material written by |
1990 | Dear Rosie | Short; co-writer |
1991 | King Ralph | Rewrites |
1992 | The Silent Touch | Co-writer |
1998 | Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence | |
2006 | The Queen | |
2006 | The Last King of Scotland | Co-writer |
2008 | The Other Boleyn Girl | |
2008 | Frost/Nixon | |
2009 | The Damned United | |
2009 | State of Play | Rewrites |
2010 | Hereafter | |
2011 | 360 | |
2011 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Executive producer |
2013 | Rush | |
2018 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Story |
TBC | Thrilla in Manila | Working title; upcoming Ang Lee's film |
Television[]
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1989 | Shalom Joan Collins | co-writer |
1993 | Rik Mayall Presents… | episode: "Mickey Love" |
1997 | Comedy Premieres: The Chest | |
2000 | Metropolis | |
2002 | The Jury | |
2003 | The Deal | TV-Movie |
2003 | Henry VIII | |
2005 | Colditz | |
2006 | Longford | TV-Movie |
2010 | The Special Relationship | TV-Movie |
2011 | The Jury II | Second Series |
2014 | The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies | |
2016- present |
The Crown | creator, writer, showrunner |
Theatre[]
Year | Title | Notes | Theatre |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | Pax Britannica | co-writer | |
2006 | Frost/Nixon | playwright | Donmar Warehouse, London Gielgud Theatre, West End |
2007 | Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway | ||
2013 | The Audience | playwright | Donmar Warehouse, West End |
2015 | Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, Broadway |
Awards and nominations[]
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Academy Awards | Best Original Screenplay | The Queen | Nominated |
2008 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Frost/Nixon | Nominated | |
2016 | American Film Institute | AFI Television Program of the Year | The Crown – Season One | Won |
2017 | The Crown – Season Two | Won | ||
2019 | The Crown – Season Three | Won | ||
2020 | The Crown – Season Four | Won | ||
2007 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Original Screenplay | The Queen | Nominated |
2007 | Outstanding British Film | Nominated | ||
2007 | Outstanding British Film | The Last King of Scotland | Won | |
2007 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Won | ||
2009 | Best Adapted Screenplay | Frost/Nixon | Nominated | |
2014 | Outstanding British Film | Rush | Nominated | |
2004 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Single Drama | The Deal | Won |
2007 | Longford | Nominated | ||
2007 | Best Writer | Won | ||
2015 | Best Mini Series | The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies | Won | |
2016 | Best Writer | The Crown | Nominated | |
2009 | Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Writer | Frost/Nixon | Nominated |
2007 | Best Writer | The Queen | Nominated | |
2020 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Drama Series | The Crown | Nominated |
2021 | Best Drama Series | The Crown | Won | |
2003 | International Emmy Awards | Best TV Movie or Mini Series | Henry VIII | Won |
2007 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Television Movie | Longford | Nominated |
2010 | The Special Relationship | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or TV Movie | Nominated | |||
2017 | Outstanding Drama Series | The Crown | Nominated | |
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series – Assassins | Nominated | |||
2018 | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series – Mystery Man | Nominated | |||
2020 | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series – Aberfan | Nominated | |||
2021 | Outstanding Drama Series | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series | Nominated | |||
2006 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | The Queen | Won |
2007 | Best Miniseries or Television Film | Longford | Won | |
2009 | Best Screenplay – Motion Picture | Frost/Nixon | Nominated | |
2016 | Best Television Series – Drama | The Crown – Season One | Won | |
2017 | The Crown – Season Two | Nominated | ||
2019 | The Crown – Season Three | Nominated | ||
2020 | The Crown – Season Four | Won | ||
2021 | Gold Derby Awards | Drama Series | The Crown – Season Four | Nominated |
Drama Episode - Fagan | The Crown – Season Four | Nominated | ||
Drama Episode - Fairytale | The Crown – Season Four | Nominated | ||
Drama Episode - Terra Nullius | The Crown – Season Four | Nominated | ||
Drama Episode - War | The Crown – Season Four | Nominated | ||
2007 | Olivier Award | Best New Play | Frost/Nixon | Nominated |
2013 | The Audience | Nominated | ||
2018 | Producers Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama | The Crown – Season Two | Nominated |
2020 | The Crown – Season Three | Nominated | ||
2021 | The Crown – Season Four | Won | ||
2007 | Tony Award | Best Play | Frost/Nixon | Nominated |
2006 | Venice Film Festival | Golden Osella | The Queen | Won |
2018 | Writers Guild of America Awards | Drama Series | The Crown – Season Two | Nominated |
2019 | The Crown – Season Three | Nominated | ||
2020 | The Crown – Season Four | Won |
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "The Crown writer Peter Morgan CBE to be awarded BFI Fellowship". British Film Institute. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
- ^ "The Impersonator.(Peter Morgan) – HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared". Archived from the original on 14 February 2015.
- ^ Pacheco, Patrick (22 April 2007). "No sides, no prisoners". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015.
- ^ Hanks, Robert (24 February 2007) "Peter Morgan: Drama king", The Independent. Retrieved on 14 January 2009.
- ^ "The man who rewrites history". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
- ^ "At the start, they both thought it would be Nixon/Frost". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (23 June 2009). "Peter Morgan leaves 'Relationship'". The Hollywood Reporter (Nielsen Business Media).
- ^ "The Special Relationship". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ Martin, Francesca (4 June 2008). "Tinker, tailor, soldier, film star". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ The Queen writer to pen new Bond, BBC News, 13 June 2009
- ^ Eden, Richard (10 April 2010). "Sam Mendes in James Bond mystery". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group).
- ^ Siegel, Tatiana (13 November 2008). "Eastwood, Spielberg talking thriller". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "Niki Lauda on Rush, James Hunt and the crash that changed his life". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ "Writer Announced for Freddie Mercury Biopic". Rolling Stone. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 October 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- ^ "Rami Malek Rises Above Bohemian Rhapsody's Messy Excess". Time Magazine. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
- ^ "The Crown: Season 4". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "The Crown will get a sixth season after all". Variety. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Dominic West Set to Play Prince Charles in Seasons 5 and 6 of 'The Crown'". Variety. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Peter Morgan Biography". IMDB.
- ^ "No. 61450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2015. p. N9.
- ^ "Gala Premiere of THE CROWN Season Three at AFI FEST 2019". American Film Institute. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ "University announces honorary degrees 2016". University of Leeds. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
External links[]
- Peter Morgan at IMDb
- Peter Morgan: Screenwriting Lecture part of the BAFTA Screenwriters on Screenwriting series.
- Profile in The Observer, September 2006.
- 1963 births
- Alumni of the University of Leeds
- Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners
- British dramatists and playwrights
- British people of German-Jewish descent
- British people of Polish descent
- British male screenwriters
- Living people
- People educated at Downside School
- People from Wimbledon, London
- Writers from London
- Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
- English male dramatists and playwrights
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire