Frederic Raphael
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Biography
A prolific, British-educated writer, American-born Frederic Raphael had published seven novels, beginning with "Obligato" (1956), before making his first significant contribution to 1960s English cinema with the overlooked comedy, "Nothing But the Best" (1964), a biting look at a social climbing playboy (Alan Bates) who commits murder to get ahead in the world. He subsequently wrote original screenplays for John Schlesinger's character study "Darling" (1965), for which he won an Oscar, and Stanley Donen's "Two for the Road" (1967) and has adapted to the screen the works of writers like Thomas Hardy ("Far From the Madding Crowd" 1967, his second pairing with Schlesinger), Iris Murdoch ("A Severed Head" 1972) and Henry James ("Daisy Miller" 1974), not to mention his own novel, "Richard's Things" (1980).
Raphael is also an acclaimed TV writer whose work for the small screen in the early 60s included "The Executioners" for ATV's "Drama '61." After concentrating on feature films for more than a decade, he returned to TV with a bang in 1976, writing the excellent "Rogue Male," which reteamed him with Donen, and creating the award-winning series, "The Glittering Prizes" (BBC), adapted from his novel. Raphael wrote and directed "Something's Wrong" (BBC, 1978) and also directed both an episode of "Oxbridge Blues" (1984), a series of seven plays based on his short stories, and "The Man in the Brooks Brothers Suit" segment of the 1990 HBO anthology "Women & Men: Stories of Seduction." He created a third series for TV, "After the War" (1990), which aired on PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre," and, more recently, collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the highly-anticipated "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999), adapted from a novella by Arthur Schnitzler.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1956
Published first novel, "Obligato"
1958
First produced screenplay, "Bachelor of Hearts", co-written with Leslie Bricusse
1960
Wrote television plays for English network ATV
1964
Wrote screenplay for Clive Donner's "Nothing but the Night", adapted from a Stanley Ellin story; also wrote title song
1965
Won Oscar as screenwriter for John Schlesinger's "Darling"
1967
Second collaboration with Schlesinger, "Far From the Madding Crowd", adapted from the Thomas Hardy novel
1967
Earned an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay, "Two for the Road", starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney; directed by Stanley Donen
1972
Scripted "A Severed Head", adapted from the Iris Murdoch novel
1974
Wrote screenplay for Peter Bogdanovich's "Daisy Miller", adapted from a Henry James novella
1976
Wrote excellent telefilm, "Rogue Male", adapted from Geoffrey Household's 1939 thriller; starred Peter O'Toole; directed by Donner
1976
Created award-winning original series for BBC-TV, "The Glittering Prizes", adapted from his novel
1978
Wrote and directed "Something's Wrong" for the BBC's "Premiere" series
1980
Adapted his novel, "Richard's Things", to the screen, initially debuting on British TV
1984
Returned to multi-part TV with "Oxbridge Blues" (BBC), a series of seven plays adapted form his own short stories; directed one episode
1990
Collaborated with Axel Corti and Daniel Vigne on script of Corti's "The King's Whore"
1990
Directed "The Man in the Brooks Brother Shirt" segment of the HBO anthology "Women & Men: Stories of Seduction"
1990
Wrote "After the War", a ten-part series for Granada Television, airing in the USA on PBS' "Masterpiece Theatre"
1995
Wrote "Armed Response" segment of Showtime anthology "Picture Windows"
1999
Collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the screenplay of "Eyes Wide Shut", based on Arthur Schnitzler's novella "Traumnovelle"
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