Mike Leigh OBE is an English writer and director of theater and film. Born on 20th February 1943 in Broughton, Lancashire, Leigh had a working-class northern up bringing. He studies theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with a scholarship in 1960 and began his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare company. In the later 1960s, Leigh became a theater director and play write but it wasn't until the 1970s that Leigh made the transition to television plays. Some of his earlier productions such as 'Nuts in May' (1976) and 'Abigale's Party' (1977) humorously satirised middle-class manners and attitudes. As Leigh moved into the 1980's, his plays focused more on working-class families and had a starker, more brutal nature. 'High Hopes' (1988) and 'Naked' (1993) are good examples of Leigh's new themes. A commitment to social realism is evident throughout Leigh's work. His television plays portray 'Kitchen Sink Realism' that developed in the late 1950s; they explore the domestic relationships between ordinary people that are hugely affected by a crisis towards the end of the film.
Leigh's style of working is very unique to Social Realism. He works from improvisation instead of writing scripts. These sessions take place over a few weeks where the actors and actresses build their characters and many of the story lines from nothing but a brief sketch of ideas from Leigh. Working with only a small selection of actors including Alison Steadman who he went on to marry, Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville, Leigh ensures that his improvisation sessions will be successful as he knows that these can work well in his style.
Leigh has won many prizes at major European film festivals, most notably he won 'Best Director' at Cannes for 'Naked' in 1993. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008.
Leigh's style of working is very unique to Social Realism. He works from improvisation instead of writing scripts. These sessions take place over a few weeks where the actors and actresses build their characters and many of the story lines from nothing but a brief sketch of ideas from Leigh. Working with only a small selection of actors including Alison Steadman who he went on to marry, Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville, Leigh ensures that his improvisation sessions will be successful as he knows that these can work well in his style.
Leigh has won many prizes at major European film festivals, most notably he won 'Best Director' at Cannes for 'Naked' in 1993. He has been nominated for six Academy Awards and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008.
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