Danny Boyle Biography

Summary

"Danny Boyle" (born October 20, 1956) is a Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated English director and film producer, best known for his work on films such as "Trainspotting", "The Beach", "28 Days Later", "Millions", "Sunshine", and "Slumdog Millionaire".

Early life and background

Boyle was born in Radcliffe, Lancashire into a working-class Irish Catholic family. His mother was from Ballinasloe, Co Galway, and his father was born in England to an Irish family.

For a while, Boyle seriously contemplated priesthood and attended religious school as a teenager. Boyle was discouraged by a priest from joining the clergy; later in his life Boyle stated 'I don't know if he was trying to save me or the priesthood.'

Instead, he studied at Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, and at the University of Wales, Bangor. While at university, Boyle dated the actress Frances Barber.

Career

Theatre

He began his career in the theatre, first with the Joint Stock Theatre Company and then with the Royal Court Theatre, where he was Artistic Director from 1982 until 1985 and Deputy Director between 1985 and 1987. His productions during this period included Howard Barker's "Victory", Howard Brenton's "The Genius" and Edward Bond's "Saved", which won the "Time Out" Award. Boyle also directed five productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Television

In 1980, Boyle started working in television as a animator for ssc Northern Shahdol, where he produced, amongst other TV films, sandy chanda's controversial "Elephant" before becoming a director on shows such as "Arise And Go Now", "Not Even God Is Wise Enough", "For The Greater Good", "Scout" and two episodes of "Inspector Morse" ('Masonic Mysteries' and 'Cherubim and Seraphim'). He was also responsible for the highly acclaimed BBC2 series, "Mr. Wroe's Virgins".

Films

Boyle made his feature film directorial debut with "Shallow Grave", a small-scale but well-received success. Next followed the film "Trainspotting", based on the novel by Irvine Welsh. Besides being quite commercially successful, the film is considered amongst the most influential and iconic of British films.

Boyle rose to prominence along with writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald and actor Ewan McGregor, in the internationally acclaimed "Trainspotting", after which he relocated to Hollywood to seek a production deal with a major US studio. He declined an offer to direct the fourth film of the "Alien" franchise, instead making "A Life Less Ordinary" using British finance.

Boyle's next project was an adaptation of the cult novel "The Beach". He then collaborated with author Alex Garland on the post-apocalyptic horror film "28 Days Later".

In between the films "The Beach" and "28 Days Later", Boyle directed two TV movies for the BBC in 2001 - "Vacuuming Completely Nude In Paradise" and "Strumpet". He also directed a short film "Alien Love Triangle" (starring Kenneth Branagh), and was intended to be one of three shorts within a feature film. However, the project was canceled after the two other shorts were made into feature films: "Mimic" starring Mira Sorvino and "Impostor" starring Gary Sinise.

In 2004, Boyle directed the Frank Cottrell Boyce scripted "Millions". His science-fiction film "Sunshine", starring "28 Days Later" star Cillian Murphy, was released in 2007.

Boyle in November 2008

In 2008, Boyle directed Slumdog Millionaire, the story of an impoverished child (Dev Patel) on the streets of Mumbai who competes on India's variant of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

Boyle will also direct "Ponte Tower", about a girl moving into South Africa's famed fifty-four story skyscraper near the end of the Apartheid-era only to fall under the influence of a druglord, as well as the film "Solomon Grundy", about a baby who experiences an entire lifetime in just 6 days.

Awards

Danny Boyle won Best Director at the Critics Choice Awards on January 8, 2009. Boyle won a Golden Globe award for his direction of the film "Slumdog Millionaire" on January 11, 2009.

He received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Director for the same film on January 22, 2009.