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Director Anthony Minghella dies | |
(about 12 hours later) | |
British film director and writer Anthony Minghella has died aged 54. | |
Minghella's films included The English Patient - which earned him an Oscar for best director in 1997 - as well as Truly, Madly, Deeply and Cold Mountain. | |
He suffered a haemorrhage in London days after having surgery for cancer of the tonsils and neck, his US agent Leslee Dart said. | |
Jude Law, who worked with Minghella on three films, said he was "deeply shocked and saddened" at the news. | |
The actor described him as "a brilliantly talented writer and director" and "a sweet, warm, bright and funny man". | |
He was one of Britain's greatest creative talents, one of our finest screen writers and directors Gordon Brown In quotes: Minghella tributesSend us your comments | |
Law's co-star in The Talented Mr Ripley, Gwyneth Paltrow, said Minghella was "a wonderful man" who was "so interested in art and making the world better for art". | |
Actor Kevin Spacey praised the director as "one of the greats". | |
Film producer and friend Lord Puttnam said the industry would be "very shocked" to lose their "very well-loved" colleague. | |
"He started as a writer, he was not a stylist as a director," he said. "He saw himself as a storyteller and his films were very well told, beautifully made and beautifully acted." | |
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was directed by Minghella in a Labour Party broadcast before the 2005 General Election, also paid tribute. | |
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Cold Mountain (2003 - pictured)The Talented Mr Ripley (1999)The English Patient (1996)Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991) He said: "He was one of Britain's greatest creative talents, one of our finest screen writers and directors, a great champion of the British film industry and expert on literature and opera." | |
Minghella had an operation for cancer last week, his representatives said. | |
Leslee Dart said: "The surgery had gone well and they were very optimistic. But he developed a haemorrhage last night and they were not able to stop it." | |
He died at about 0500 GMT on Tuesday at the Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith, west London. | |
Minghella's other roles included being chairman of the British Film Institute. | |
He had also directed a TV episode of book The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. | |
A 90-minute pilot, directed by Minghella and co-written with Richard Curtis, is due to be broadcast on BBC One on Easter Sunday. | |
Minghella received nine Bafta and three Oscar nominationsBBC film correspondent Tom Brook, speaking in New York, said Minghella was held in "very high regard by the artistic community". | |
"He's certainly one of the top directors of his generation in Britain and, in Hollywood he was definitely held in high esteem," he said. | |
Minghella began his career as a writer with his early radio plays winning several awards. | Minghella began his career as a writer with his early radio plays winning several awards. |
He made his directorial debut in Truly, Madly, Deeply, in 1991. | He made his directorial debut in Truly, Madly, Deeply, in 1991. |
He went on to write and direct film adaptations of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley. | He went on to write and direct film adaptations of Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient and Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley. |
In 1999, he was nominated for an Oscar for writing The Talented Mr Ripley screenplay. | |
He also directed 2003's Cold Mountain, starring Law, Kidman and Renee Zellweger, who won the best supporting actress Oscar for the film. | |
In 2005, Minghella directed his first opera, an English National Opera (ENO) production of Madama Butterfly. | |