Happy 55th Birthday, Sam Mendes! Born today in 1955, this English screenwriter, producer and film and stage director is known for his dark re-inventions of stage musicals.
Mendes' parents divorced when he was a child. He later grew up in Oxfordshire and attended Magdalen College School and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first in English.
While at Cambridge, Mendes was a member of the Marlowe Society and directed several plays, including a production of French poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand's 1897 French play Cyrano de Bergerac. This was with English actor Tom Hollander among the cast members.
Mendes was also a "brilliant" schoolboy cricketer, according to the annually published United Kingdom cricket reference book "Wisden" and also later played for Magdalen College School in 1983 and 1984. He also played cricket for Cambridge University.
Four years later, Mendes worked at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1988 as assistant director on a number of productions. This included George Bernard Shaw's 1905 three-act English play Major Barbara, and directing in The Tent, the second venue.
At thirty-one, Mendes directed a production of the last play by Russian playwright and short-story fiction writer Anton Chekhov with the 1904 play The Cherry Orchard in 1994. It was performed in the West End theatre and starred English actress Judi Dench.
Soon after, Mendes joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. This was where his productions included William Shakespeare's 1602 tragedy Troilus and Cressida in 1990, his 1593 historical play Richard III and his 1611 tragicomedy The Tempest. This was thought to be one of the last plays that Shakespeare wrote alone.
Many of Mendes' productions featured English actor, author and music historian Simon Russell Beale.
In 1993, Mendes staged an acclaimed revival of American composer John Kander and American musical theatre lyricist Fred Ebb's 1966 American musical Cabaret.
It starred English actress, voice artist musician and singer Jane Horrocks as Sally Bowles, Scottish-American actor, singer, writer, producer, director, and activist Alan Cumming as Emcee, English actor Adam Godley as Cliff Bradshaw and English actress Sara Kestelman as Frau Schneider.
The production was approached with a fresh concept. It differed greatly from both the original 1966 production directed by American theatrical producer and director Harold Prince and the famed film version, directed by American dancer, musical-theatre choreographer, and theatre and film director Bob Fosse.
This production opened at the Donmar and later received four Olivier Award nominations including Best Musical Revival, before transferring promptly to Broadway where it played for several years at the Kit Kat Club (i.e. the Stephen Sondheim Theater).
The Broadway cast included Cumming once again as Emcee. It also included English-American actress of stage and screen Natasha Richardson as Sally, American stage, film and television actress, singer and comedian Mary Louise Wilson as Frau Schneider and American actor with a career in film and television John Benjamin Hickey as Cliff.
Eventually, Cumming and Richardson won Tony Awards for their performances.
In 1994, Mendes staged a new production of British writer and composer of pop music and musicals Lionel Bart's 1960 British musical Oliver!
The cast included Welsh actor and singer Jonathan Pryce (after much persuasion) as Fagin, English actress of stage and screen Sally Dexter as Nancy, and Zimbabwean stage and television actor Miles Anderson as Bill Sikes. Mendes, Pryce and Dexter later received Olivier Award nominations for their work on Oliver!
Five years later, Mendes made his film directorial debut and the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1999 American drama/comedy-drama 'American Beauty'. It starred Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari and Chris Cooper.
On a budget of $15 million, the film grossed $356.3 million worldwide. American writer, director, and producer for television, film, and theater Alan Ball had written the screenplay.
The following year, 'American Beauty' received five Oscars. This was for Best Cinematography (Conrad Hall), Best Original Screenplay (Alan Ball), Best Actor (Kevin Spacey), Best Director (Sam Mendes) and Best Picture. This occurred at the 72nd Academy Awards in late March 2000.
For winning Best Picture, Mandes became the sixth director to ever earn the Academy Award for his feature film debut.
Twelve years later, Mendes directed the second and final film of which he is best known. This was the 2012 British/American/Turkish action/thriller spy film 'Skyfall'. The film was the third to star Daniel Craig as the fictional MI6 agent.
'Skyfall' was the twenty-third installment of the Bond franchise. On a budget of $150–200 million, 'Skyfall' had grossed $1.109 billion at the box office.
The following year, 'Skyfall', won two BAFTA Awards for Best Original Music (Thomas Newman) and Best British Film. This occurred at the 66th British Academy Film Awards in February 24, 2013.
Later that same month, the film won two Oscars for Best Sound Editing and Best Original Song (Adele, Paul Epworth for the song "Skyfall"). This occurred at the 85th Academy Awards in February 24, 2013.
Two years later, Mendes returned again to directed the 2015 British/American/Austrian/Mexican/Italian/Moroccan action/thriller spy film 'Spectre'. It was the twenty-fourth installment of the Bond franchise. However, it was not as successful as its predecessor.
The forthcoming action/thriller spy film 'No Time to Die' will be release in November 2020. This will be the twenty-fifth installment of the Bond franchise. The film features Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond.
Instead of Mendes, 'No Time to Die' will be directed by American filmmaker and television director Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Among his credits, Mendes is also known for directing 'Road to Perdition' (2002), 'Jarhead' (2005), 'Things We Lost in the Fire' (2007), 'Revolutionary Road' (2008), 'Away We Go' (2009') and '1917' (2019).
According to Mendes' personal life, his grandfather was the Trinidadian and Tobagonian novelist and short-story writer Alfred Hubert Mendes.
Menes has been active from 1993–present.
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