Peter Morgan

Peter Julian Robin Morgan, CBE (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. Morgan is best known for writing the historical films and plays The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United, and Rush. He is the creator of the Netflix series The Crown.

For other people named Peter Morgan, see Peter Morgan (disambiguation).

Peter Morgan

CBE
Morgan at a Hereafter press conference, 2010
BornPeter Julian Robin Morgan
(1963-04-10) 10 April 1963
Wimbledon, London, England
OccupationScreenwriter, playwright
ResidenceLondon, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materUniversity of Leeds
Period1988–present
GenreComedy, drama, historical fiction
Notable worksThe Queen
Frost/Nixon
Rush
The Crown
Spouse
Anna Carolina Schwarzenberg
​
(
m. 1997;
sep. 
2014)
PartnerGillian Anderson (2016-present)
Children5

In 2008, Morgan was ranked number 28 in The Telegraph's list of "The 100 most powerful people in British culture".[1] In February 2017, he was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship (BFI).[2]

Early life

Morgan was born in Wimbledon, London. His mother, Inga (née Bojcek), was a Catholic Pole who fled the Soviets, and his father, Arthur Morgenthau, was a German Jew who fled the Nazis, arriving in London in 1933.[3][4] His father died when Morgan was nine years old.[5] Morgan attended St Paul's School in London[6] and boarding school at Downside School, Somerset, and gained a degree in Fine Art from the University of Leeds.

Career

Morgan wrote television scripts during the 1990s, including an episode of Rik Mayall Presents... and the Comedy Premiere The Chest. He wrote the screenplay to the romantic comedy Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence (1998) and had some success with the TV series The Jury (2002). In 2003, Morgan broke through with The Deal, a television drama about the power-sharing deal between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown that was struck in the Granita restaurant in London in 1994.

In 2006, Morgan received his Academy Award-nomination for The Deal's follow-up, The Queen, that showed how the death of Princess Diana impacted Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Royal Family. His work on the film eventually awarded him a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press, and Helen Mirren won numerous awards for playing the title role. 2006 also saw the release of The Last King of Scotland, the screenplay of which Morgan adapted with Jeremy Brock. In 2007 they jointly won a BAFTA Film Award for their work on the film.

Also in 2006, Morgan's first play, Frost/Nixon, was staged at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in London. Starring Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, the play concerns the series of televised interviews that the disgraced former president granted Frost in 1977. These ended with his tacit admission of guilt regarding his role in the Watergate scandal. The play was directed by Michael Grandage and opened to enthusiastic reviews. In May 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honoured Morgan with the year's Kanbar Award for Excellence in Screenwriting.

In July 2009, filming began on The Special Relationship, the third film of Morgan's "Blair trilogy". The film focuses on Blair's (again played by Michael Sheen) relationship with US president Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2000. Morgan was originally scheduled to direct the film (making his directorial debut) but pulled out a month before filming began. He was replaced by Richard Loncraine.[7] Morgan was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on the film. In 2008 Morgan adapted John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy into a screenplay for Working Title Films.[8]

He has since finished the script for Hereafter, a supernatural thriller "in the vein of The Sixth Sense". DreamWorks bought the screenplay on spec in March 2008.[9] The development was later transferred to Warner Bros. and filming began in October 2009 under the direction of Clint Eastwood.

In 2008 the film Frost/Nixon, with Sheen and Langella playing the parts they had on stage, opened in the UK and the US to positive reviews. Morgan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his work on the film. In June 2009, it was announced that he would be the co-writer of Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond film.[10] The Daily Telegraph's Mandrake diary reported in April 2010 that Morgan had quit the production after Sam Mendes was hired to direct, and that Patrick Marber would replace him. MGM dismissed the Telegraph's claims as speculation.[11]

In 2010, Morgan started writing the screenplay for Bohemian Rhapsody, a biopic about rock musician Freddie Mercury (portrayed by Rami Malek), the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen.[12] The film was released in 2018 and won various awards.

Morgan is the creator and writer of the Netflix historical drama series The Crown – a biographical story about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Personal life

Morgan married Anna Carolina Schwarzenberg, daughter of Czech politician and nobleman Karel Schwarzenberg, civilly in London on 28 July 1997 and religiously at Murau in Austria on 6 September 1997. They have five children. They lived in Battersea, South London until the winter of 2006, when the family moved to Vienna.[13] They separated in 2014 and he resides in London. Morgan has been in a relationship with actress Gillian Anderson since 2016.[14][15]

Morgan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.[16] In February 2017, he was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship (BFI).[2]. In November 2019 Morgan was honoured by the American Film Institute with a tribute to his career at the AFI FEST 2019.[17]

In July 2016 Morgan was presented with an Honorary Degree in Letters by the University of Leeds, his alma mater. [18]

List of works

Film
Year Title Notes
1990 Dear Rosie short; co-writer
1991 King Ralph rewrites
1992 The Silent Touch co-writer
1998 Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
2006 The Queen
2006 The Last King of Scotland co-writer
2008 The Other Boleyn Girl
2008 Frost/Nixon
2009 The Damned United
2009 State of Play rewrites
2010 Hereafter
2011 360
2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy executive producer
2013 Rush
2018 Bohemian Rhapsody story

Television
Year Title Notes
1989 Shalom Joan Collins co-writer
1993 Rik Mayall Presents… episode: "Mickey Love"
1997 Comedy Premieres: The Chest
2000 Metropolis
2002 The Jury
2003 The Deal TV-Movie
2003 Henry VIII
2005 Colditz
2006 Longford TV-Movie
2010 The Special Relationship TV-Movie
2011 The Jury II Second Series
2014 The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies
2016–present The Crown creator and writer

Theatre
Year Title Notes Theatre
1986 Pax Britannica co-writer
2006 Frost/Nixon Writer - London/West End Donmar Warehouse, Gielgud Theatre
2007 Frost/Nixon Writer - Broadway Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
2013 The Audience Writer - West End Donmar Warehouse
2015 The Audience Writer - Broadway Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre

Awards and Nominations

Academy Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2006 The Queen Best Original Screenplay Nominated
2008 Frost/Nixon Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated

American Film Institute Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2016 The Crown AFI Television Program of the Year Won
2017 The Crown AFI Television Program of the Year Won
2019 The Crown AFI Television Program of the Year Won

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2004 The Deal Best Single Drama Won
2007 Longford Best Single Drama Nominated
2007 The Queen Best Original Screenplay Nominated
2007 The Queen Outstanding British Film Nominated
2007 Longford Best Writer Won
2007 The Last King of Scotland Outstanding British Film Won
2007 The Last King of Scotland Best Adapted Screenplay Won
2009 Frost/Nixon Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated
2014 Rush Outstanding British Film Nominated
2015 The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies Best Mini Series Won
2016 The Crown Best Writer Nominated

Emmy Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2007 Longford Outstanding Television Movie Nominated
2010 The Special Relationship Outstanding Television Movie Nominated
2010 The Special Relationship Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or TV Movie Nominated
2017 The Crown Outstanding Drama Series Nominated
2017 The Crown Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series - Assassins Nominated
2018 The Crown Outstanding Drama Series Nominated
2018 The Crown Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series - Mystery Man Nominated
2020 The Crown Outstanding Drama Series Pending
2020 The Crown Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series - Aberfan Pending

Golden Globe Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2007 The Queen Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Won
2008 Longford Best Miniseries or Television Film Won
2009 Frost/Nixon Best Screenplay – Motion Picture Nominated
2016 The Crown Best Television Series – Drama Won
2017 The Crown Best Television Series – Drama Nominated
2019 The Crown Best Television Series – Drama Nominated

Olivier Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2007 Frost/Nixon Best New Play Nominated
2013 The Audience Best New Play Nominated

Tony Awards
Year Nominated work Category Result
2007 Frost/Nixon Best Play Nominated

Venice Film Festival
Year Nominated work Category Result
2006 The Queen Golden Osella Won

References
  1. "The 100 most powerful people in British culture". Daily Telegraph. 11 November 2016.
  2. "The Crown writer Peter Morgan CBE to be awarded BFI Fellowship". British Film Institute. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  3. "The Impersonator.(Peter Morgan) – HighBeam Business: Arrive Prepared". Archived from the original on 14 February 2015.
  4. Pacheco, Patrick (22 April 2007). "No sides, no prisoners". Los Angeles Times.
  5. Hanks, Robert (24 February 2007) "Peter Morgan: Drama king", The Independent. Retrieved on 14 January 2009.
  6. "The man who rewrites history". Evening Standard. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  7. Andreeva, Nellie (23 June 2009). "Peter Morgan leaves 'Relationship'". The Hollywood Reporter (Nielsen Business Media).
  8. Martin, Francesca (4 June 2008). "Tinker, tailor, soldier, film star". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
  9. Siegel, Tatiana (13 November 2008). "Eastwood, Spielberg talking thriller". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
  10. The Queen writer to pen new Bond, BBC News, 13 June 2009
  11. Eden, Richard (10 April 2010). "Sam Mendes in James Bond mystery". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group).
  12. "Writer Announced for Freddie Mercury Biopic". Rolling Stone. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  13. "Peter Morgan Biography". IMDB.
  14. Heyman, Marshall (24 October 2016). "A Crowning Achievement". The Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  15. "Londoner's Diary: Goodbye to a likely lad and a lovely man". London Evening Standard. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  16. "No. 61450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2015. p. N9.
  17. "Gala Premiere of THE CROWN Season Three at AFI FEST 2019". American Film Institute. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  18. "University announces honorary degrees 2016". University of Leeds. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
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