Anthony Minghella, the Oscar-winning director and writer of The English Patient, Cold Mountain and other films, died early this morning March 18 of a brain hemorrhage, according to Variety. The 54-year-old director was a patient at Charing Cross Hospital in London, where he had undergone a routine operation on his neck.
Minghella was born to parents of Italian origin who had an ice-cream shop on the Isle of Wight in southern England. After studying drama and teaching at Hull University in northern England, he began his career in theater and television, winning the London Theater Critics Award for Best Play in 1986 for Made In Bangkok.
He first made a splash in film with Truly, Madly, Deeply, starring Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson, who had previously starred in a radio play by Minghella. After winning the Best Director Oscar for The English Patient in 1996, he directed The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain and Breaking and Entering. Minghella most recently directed the BBC/HBO film No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency based on Alexander McCall Smith's novel set in Botswana, which is due to premiere March 23 on BBC1.
On the operatic stage, Minghella won raves for his visionary production of Madame Butterfly, which began at the English National Opera and debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006.
