Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersSundance Film FestivalIndependent Spirit AwardsBlack History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Ronald Harwood(1934-2020)

  • Writer
  • Actor
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Ronald Harwood at an event for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Trailer for documentary film Revealing Mr. Maugham.
Play trailer2:05
Revealing Mr. Maugham (2012)
1 Video
3 Photos
Born in Cape Town, Union of South Africa in 1934, Ronald Harwood moved to London in 1951 to pursue a career in the theatre. After attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he joined the Shakespeare Company of Sir Donald Wolfit, one of the last 'actor-manager' of Great-Britain. From 1953 to 1958, Harwood became the personal dresser of Sir Donald. He would later draw from this experience in his play 'The Dresser' and write a biography 'Sir Donald Wolfit CBE: His life and work in the Unfashionable Theatre'.

In 1960, he started a new career as a writer and would prove to be quite prolific, penning plays, novels and non-fiction books. He also worked often as a screenwriter but he seldom wrote original material directly for the screen, rather acting as an adapter sometimes of his own work.

One of the recurring themes in Harwood's work is his fascination for the stage, its artists and artisans as displayed in the aforementioned 'The Dresser', his plays 'After the Lions' (about Sarah Bernard) ,'Another time' (about a gifted piano player), 'Quartet' (about aging opera singers) and his non-fiction book 'All the world's a stage', a general history of theater. Harwood also has a strong interest in the WWII period, as highlighted by the films 'Operation daybreak', 'The Statement', 'The Pianist', and his play turned to film 'Taking sides'. Based on true stories, the two last films feature once again musicians as their main characters.

Made Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1974 and Commander of the British Empire in 1999, Harwood was president of the international PEN Club from 1993 to 1997 after presiding the British section during the four previous years.
BornNovember 9, 1934
DiedSeptember 8, 2020(85)
BornNovember 9, 1934
DiedSeptember 8, 2020(85)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Won 1 Oscar

Photos

Amy Adams and Ronald Harwood at an event for The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008)
Ronald Harwood at an event for The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003)

Known for

The Pianist (2002)
The Pianist
8.5
  • Writer
  • 2002
Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
8.0
  • Writer
  • 2007
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Australia (2008)
Australia
6.6
  • Writer
  • 2008
Oliver Twist (2005)
Oliver Twist
6.8
  • Writer
  • 2005

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Writer

  • Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen in The Dresser (2015)
    The Dresser
  • Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins, Billy Connolly, and Tom Courtenay in Quartet (2012)
    Quartet
  • A Therapy (2012)
    A Therapy
  • Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman in Australia (2008)
    Australia
  • Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)
    Love in the Time of Cholera
  • Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
    The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
  • Oliver Twist (2005)
    Oliver Twist
  • Jeremy Irons and Annette Bening in Being Julia (2004)
    Being Julia
  • Michael Caine, Jeremy Northam, John Neville, and Tilda Swinton in The Statement (2003)
    The Statement
  • TV teatar (1956)
    TV teatar
  • Majstor
  • Television Theater (1953)
    Television Theater
  • The Pianist (2002)
    The Pianist
  • Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgård in Taking Sides (2001)
    Taking Sides
  • Za i przeciw

Actor

  • All the World's a Stage (1984)
    All the World's a Stage
  • Brian Bedford and Elvi Hale in ITV Television Playhouse (1955)
    ITV Television Playhouse
  • The Small House at Allington
  • Formula for Danger
  • BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950)
    BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
  • The Rough and Ready Lot

Producer

  • The Dresser (1983)
    The Dresser
    • (uncredited)
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos1

Revealing Mr. Maugham TRAILER
Trailer 2:05
Revealing Mr. Maugham TRAILER

Personal details

Edit
    • France's national library catalogue
    • November 9, 1934
    • Cape Town, South Africa
    • September 8, 2020
    • Sussex, England, UK(natural causes)
    • 1959 - July 1, 2013 (her death, 3 children)
    • Antony Sher(Cousin)
  • Other works
    In December 2007 his book Ronald Harwood's Adaptations was published in the UK. This is the first book solely about screenwriting from one who has won an Oscar for screenwriting.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He is the first Oscar winning screenwriter, ever, to write a book solely about the craft of screen-writing - Ronald Harwood's Adaptations (2007).

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.