Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English stage and film director. He is known for his 1998 production of Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming, and his debut film, American Beauty, for which he won an Academy Award for Directing.

Biography

Early years

Mendes was born in Reading, Berkshire, England to Jameson Peter Mendes, a university professor and Valerie Helene Barnett, an author of children's books. His father is from Trindad's ethnic Portuguese community, and his mother English Jewish.

Mendes first attracted attention for his production of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard in the West End starring Judi Dench before he was twenty-five years old,. Soon he was directing plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company where his productions, many of them featuring Simon Russell Beale, included Troilus and Cressida, Richard III and The Tempest.

He has also worked at the Royal National Theatre, directing Edward Bond's The Sea, Jim Cartwright's The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, and Othello with Simon Russell Beale as Iago.

Career

Stage

In 1992 Mendes was appointed artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse, an intimate studio space in London's West End which he quickly transformed into one of the most exciting venues in the city. His opening production was Stephen Sondheim's Assassins which revelled in the show's dark, comic brilliance and rescued it from the critical opprobrium it had suffered on its American opening. He followed this with a series of excellent classic revivals, many of which attracted some of the finest actors and biggest stars of the decade. Among Mendes's best productions were John Kander and Fred Ebb's Cabaret, Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, Stephen Sondheim's Company, Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus and his farewell duo of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night, which transferred to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As artistic director Mendes also gave some of the country's finest younger directors the opportunity to do some of their best work: Matthew Warchus's production of Sam Shepard's True West, Katie Mitchell's of Beckett's Endgame, David Leveaux's of Sophocles's Elektra and Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing were amongst the most critically acclaimed of the decade. The Donmar's present artistic director Michael Grandage directed some of the key productions of the later part of Mendes's tenure, including Peter Nichols's Passion Play and Privates on Parade and Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.

Film

American Beauty Sam Mendes made his directorial debut with the box office/critically acclaimed film American Beauty, starring Kevin Spacey. The film grossed US$356.3 million worldwide. The film won the Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Picture. Mendes won the Golden Globe Award, the Academy Award and the director's guild of America for American Beauty.

Mendes directed his second film in 2002 in the film Road to Perdition. The film grossed US$181 million. The aggregate review score on Rotten Tomatoes was 82%; critics praised Paul Newman for his performance. The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor, and won one for Best Cinematography.

In 2005, Mendes directed the war film Jarhead. The film received mixed reviews, receiving a Rotten Tomatoes aggregate of 60%, and a gross revenue of US$96.9 million worldwide. The film focussed on the boredom and other psychological challenges of wartime instead of being a traditional combat-action film.

Mendes next film is based on the novel by Richard Yates Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates. The film will be released on December 26, 2008.

As of May 2008, Mendes was directing scenes for Farlanders, the working title of a film about a couple searching across North America for the perfect community in which to settle down and start a family. The film stars John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, and was written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. Scenes taking place in Montreal, Colorado and Arizona were filmed in Stamford, Connecticut in the New York City suburbs. Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Catherine O'Hara, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Messina, Cheryl Hines, Josh Hamilton and Paul Schneider also star.

Personal life

After a string of romances with actresses including Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, Jane Horrocks, and Rachel Weisz, Mendes married English actress Kate Winslet on 24 May 2003 in Anguilla in the Caribbean. Their first child, Joe Alfie Winslet-Mendes, was born on 22 December 2004. Mendes also has a stepdaughter, Mia Honey Threapleton, from Winslet's first marriage to assistant director Jim Threapleton. The family now lives in New York City and Ascott-under-Wychwood, England. Mendes was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2000.

Work

Stage productions

• 1990: Began directing for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• 1992: became artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre
• 1994: directed revival of Oliver! (with score specially revised and added to by the original composer and lyricist, Lionel Bart) at the London Palladium; the show ran for four years, becoming, on 8 July 1997, the longest-running show at that venue.
• 1994: directed revival of Cabaret
• 1998: directed David Hare's The Blue Room, starring Nicole Kidman (and Iain Glen).
• 2003: directed a Broadway revival of Gypsy, starring Bernadette Peters.
• 2003: started film and theatre production company, Neal Street Productions, with Pippa Harris and Caro Newling.

Filmography

Director

Year	Film	Oscar nominations	Oscar wins
1999	American Beauty	8	5
2002	Road to Perdition	6	1
2005	Jarhead	0	0
2008	Revolutionary Road
2009	Middlemarch

Producer

Year	Film	Notes
2002	Road to Perdition
2006	Starter for 10	(executive producer)
2007	The Kite Runner	(executive producer)
	Things We Lost in the Fire
2008	Revolutionary Road	Odger

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1989: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer – The Cherry Orchard
• 1995: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Director – The Glass Menagerie
• 1995: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – The Glass Menagerie
• 1996: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – Company
• 1998: Tony Award for Best Musical Revival – Cabaret
• 2002: Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Director – Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night
• 2003: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director – Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night

References

External links