Richard Curtis

For other people named Richard Curtis, see Richard Curtis (disambiguation).

Richard Curtis

CBE
Curtis in 2016
Curtis in 2016
BornRichard Whalley Anthony Curtis
(1956-11-08) 8 November 1956 (age 68)
Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation
  • Screenwriter
  • director
  • producer
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
EducationPapplewick School
Appleton Grammar School
Harrow School
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Period1979–present
Spouse
​
(m. 2023)​
Children4, including Scarlett Curtis

Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis CBE (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director.[1] One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Love Actually (2003), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), About Time (2013), and Yesterday (2019). He is also known for the drama War Horse (2011) and for having co-written the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Vicar of Dibley. His early career saw him write material for the BBC's Not the Nine O'Clock News and ITV's Spitting Image.

In 2007, Curtis received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.[2] He is the co-founder, with Sir Lenny Henry, of the British charity Comic Relief, which has raised over £1 billion.[3] At the 2008 Britannia Awards, he received the BAFTA Humanitarian Award for co-creating Comic Relief and for his contributions to other charitable causes.[4]

Curtis was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest figures in British comedy in 2003.[5] In 2008, he was ranked number 12 in a list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture" compiled by The Telegraph.[6] In 2012, he was one of the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork—the cover of The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.[7]

  1. ^ "Richard Curtis". TV.com. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Richard Curtis – Academy Fellow in 2007". Bafta.org. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Comic Relief raises £1bn over 30-year existence". BBC News Online. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Richard Curtis is king of the 'Hill'". Variety. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  5. ^ "The A-Z of laughter (part one)". The Observer. 7 December 2003. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  6. ^ "The 100 most powerful people in British culture". The Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2016.
  7. ^ "New faces on Sgt Pepper album cover for artist Peter Blake's 80th birthday". The Guardian. 2 April 2012.