Michael Radford
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Born in New Delhi to an English father and Australian mother, Radford was raised in India. He moved to England to attend Oxford and after graduating worked briefly as an actor and a teacher. In 1971, he was among the first twenty-five students to enroll at the National Film School. Radford began as a documentary filmmaker. His most notable efforts include "The Madonna and the Volcano" (1979) and "Van Morrison in Ireland" (1981). Radford made his screenwriting debut and also directed the remake of "Another Time, Another Place" (1983). He received mixed reviews for his adaptation of George Orwell's "1984" (1984), in which Richard Burton gave his last screen performance. Radford had somewhat better luck with "White Mischief" (1987), a fictional retelling of a famous murder in colonial Kenya that featured Joss Ackland, Charles Dance and Greta Scacchi. He received some of his best notices to date for "Il Postino (The Postman)" (1994), the lyrical drama that charts the relationship between Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Phillipe Noiret) and the local fisherman (Massimo Troisi in his final film appearance) he hires as his personal mailman.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1971
One of first twenty-five students at National FIlm School
1977
Debut as a producer, "Love is Like a Violin"
1981
Directed "The White Bird Passes" for the BBC
1981
Feature directorial debut, "Van Morrison in Ireland"
1983
Screenwriting debut and first fiction film directed, "Another Time, Another Place"
1984
Wrote and directed an adaptation of George Orwell's "1984"
1987
Helmed "White Mischief"; last feature for seven years
1994
Co-wrote (also directed) the Italian film, "Il Postino (The Postman)" starring Massimo Troisi, who tragically died the day after the filming was completed; received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay
1996
Directed "B. Monkey" (released theatrically in the USA in 1999)
2000
Directed (also co-scripted and co-produced) Daryl Hannah in "Dancing at the Blue Iguana"
2000
Staged the London revival of "The Seven Year Itch" with Daryl Hannah
2004
Hemed the Shakespearian adaptation, "The Merchant of Venice" starring Al Pacino and Joseph Fiennes
2008
Directed Demi Moore and Michael Caine in "Flawless" a diamond heist story set in 1960
Companions
