Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella, (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for "The English Patient" (1996). In addition, he received three more Academy Award nominations; he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for both "The English Patient" (1996) and "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999), and was posthumously nominated for Best Picture for "The Reader" (2008), as a co-producer. Minghella was born in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, an
Purple Noon cast after the director saw him in "Women Are Weak". "Purple Noon" was lauded by critics, and made Delon a star. In 1962, Clément and Paul Gégauff won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Foreign Film Screenplay. It enjoys a loyal cult following even today, with fans including film director Martin Scorsese. Roger Ebert gave "Purple Noon" three stars (compared to the four-star review he gave to the 1999 version of "The Talented Mr. Ripley"), writing that "the best thing about the film is the way the plot devises a way for Ripley to create