Bill Condon
Encyclopedia
William "Bill" Condon is an American screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

 and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

. Condon is best known for directing and writing the critically acclaimed films Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters is a 1998 drama film that recounts the last days of the life of troubled film director James Whale, whose homosexuality is a central theme. It stars Ian McKellen as Whale, along with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes...

, Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....

, Kinsey
Kinsey (film)
Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...

, and Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...

. In 1998, Condon debuted as a screenwriter in Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters is a 1998 drama film that recounts the last days of the life of troubled film director James Whale, whose homosexuality is a central theme. It stars Ian McKellen as Whale, along with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes...

, which won him his first Academy Award. He was also nominated for Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....

. In 2006, Condon won a Golden Globe for his film Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...

, which he wrote and directed. Condon's films have been both commercial and critical successes.

Personal life

Condon was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, the son of a detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

, and was raised in an Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...

 family. He attended Regis High School
Regis High School (New York City)
Regis High School is a private Jesuit university-preparatory school for academically gifted Roman Catholic young men located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Annual class enrollment is limited to approximately 135 male students from the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area...

 and Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...

, where he studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

. He is also openly gay
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....

.

Career

At the age of twelve, Condon found himself drawn to screenplay writing with his first viewing of Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde (film)
The film was originally offered to François Truffaut, the best-known director of the New Wave movement, who made contributions to the script. He passed on the project to make Fahrenheit 451. The producers approached Jean-Luc Godard next...

:
Part of the pleasure of it was a completely instinctual thing that drew me into the world of writing about movies. Suddenly it became all of your senses—your mind was engaged by it. The most pleasurable thing was that you felt as if you were part of the movement and part of that fun.


After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree, Condon began to work as a journalist for film magazines including American Film and Millimeter. He got his start writing the indie feature Strange Behavior
Strange Behavior
Strange Behavior is a 1981 mystery horror film directed by Michael Laughlin, written by Bill Condon, and starring Michael Murphy. It is a homage to the pulp horror films of the 1950s...

(1981) and the big budget sci-fi romp Strange Invaders
Strange Invaders
Strange Invaders is a spoof science-fiction film made in 1983, as a tribute to the 1950s films, but most notably The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It stars Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen and Diana Scarwid...

(1983) starring Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...

 and Wallace Shawn
Wallace Shawn
Wallace Michael Shawn , sometimes credited as Wally Shawn, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, author, voice artist, and intellectual. His best-known film roles include Wally Shawn in My Dinner with Andre , Vizzini in The Princess Bride , and debate teacher Mr...

. His directorial debut was Sister, Sister
Sister, Sister (1987 film)
Sister, Sister is a 1987 Southern Gothic thriller directed and co-written by Bill Condon. The film stars Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Judith Ivey.-Plot summary:Matt Rutledge goes on vacation to the Louisiana bayou country...

(1987), an eerie Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. It resembles its parent genre in that it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...

 mystery starring Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...

 and Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...

. Following this, Condon made a series of made-for-TV thrillers, including Murder 101 (1991), which starred Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...

 and earned Condon and co-writer Roy Johansen a 1992 Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...

 for their screenplay. During this period he also wrote the screenplay for the thriller F/X2
F/X2
F/X2 is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy. It is a sequel to the 1986 film F/X.-Plot:...

(1991), which was directed by Australian director Richard Franklin
Richard Franklin (director)
Richard Franklin was an Australian-born film director.-Early life and career:Franklin was born and grew up in Brighton, Melbourne and was educated at Haileybury College. In the 1960s, Franklin was the drummer in the Melbourne band The Pink Finks, which also featured Ross Wilson and Ross Hannaford,...

.

In 1994, he re-teamed with Nancy Allen
Nancy Allen (actress)
Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...

 to direct the movie of the week The Man Who Wouldn't Die
The Man Who Wouldn't Die
The Man Who Wouldn't Die is the title of a 1995 action mystery film by director Bill Condon. The film, which aired as a movie of the week during the May Sweeps in 1995, stars Roger Moore, Nancy Allen and Malcolm McDowell...

, which also starred Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...

. After directing Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), a sequel to Bernard Rose's
Bernard Rose (director)
Bernard Rose is an English actor and film director most famous for his direction of the 1992 urban horror film Candyman and the 1994 historical romance film Immortal Beloved....

 horror film, Condon came to prominence with his film Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters
Gods and Monsters is a 1998 drama film that recounts the last days of the life of troubled film director James Whale, whose homosexuality is a central theme. It stars Ian McKellen as Whale, along with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes...

, which he both wrote and directed. The screenplay was based on a novel written by Christopher Bram
Christopher Bram
Christopher Bram is an American author.Bram grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia , where he was a paperboy and an Eagle Scout. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1974...

. For his efforts, he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...

. He would also be nominated for the same award for the Oscar-winning 2002 adaptation
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....

 of the musical Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....

, which also brought him a second Edgar Award.

He received further accolades in 2004 for writing and directing the film Kinsey
Kinsey (film)
Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...

, chronicling the life of the controversial sex researcher Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Kinsey
Alfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey...

. In 2005, he was given the Stephen F. Kolzak Award
GLAAD Media Awards
The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...

 at the GLAAD Media Awards.

In 2005, it was announced that Condon would write the screenplay for, and direct, the film adaptation of Dreamgirls
Dreamgirls (film)
Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...

, the acclaimed Broadway musical loosely based on the career of the musical group The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...

 with Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...

. It was his second adaptation of a musical. The production was filmed at CBS Studios in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, with a cast including Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx
Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, singer-songwriter, stand-up comedian, and talk radio host. As an actor, his work in the film Ray earned him the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a...

, Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....

, Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...

, Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...

, Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose is an American singer and actress known for her Tony Award winning performance in the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change and her starring roles in the films Dreamgirls and The Princess and the Frog....

, and Danny Glover
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover is an American actor, film director, and political activist. Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film franchise.-Early life:...

. Dreamgirls was released in December 2006, having finished shooting in April. Condon received Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...

 and Broadcast Film Critics Association
Broadcast Film Critics Association
The Broadcast Film Critics Association is the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada , representing approximately 250 television, radio and online critics....

 nominations for Directing but while the film led the nominations count with eight, neither Condon nor the film received nominations in their categories at the Academy Awards.

Condon is a member of the Independent Feature Projects (IFP) in Los Angeles, a non-profit organization which supports independent films, as well as the Independent Writers Steering Committee, which was initiated by the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
He gained a lot of attention in 2010 when it was announced that he would direct both parts of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is a 2011/2012 two-part romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the The Twilight Saga series...

adapted from the fourth and final novel in The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...

.

Director

  • Sister, Sister
    Sister, Sister (1987 film)
    Sister, Sister is a 1987 Southern Gothic thriller directed and co-written by Bill Condon. The film stars Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Judith Ivey.-Plot summary:Matt Rutledge goes on vacation to the Louisiana bayou country...

    (1987)
  • Dead in the Water (1991, TV)
  • Murder 101
    Murder 101
    Murder 101 is the name of a series of two-hour TV movies appearing regularly on the Hallmark Channel since 2006. In it, Dick Van Dyke stars as professor Dr. Jonathan Maxwell, an absent-minded and brilliant criminologist. His son Barry Van Dyke co-stars as a former cop who is working as a private...

    (1991, TV)
  • White Lie (1991, TV)
  • The Man Who Wouldn't Die
    The Man Who Wouldn't Die
    The Man Who Wouldn't Die is the title of a 1995 action mystery film by director Bill Condon. The film, which aired as a movie of the week during the May Sweeps in 1995, stars Roger Moore, Nancy Allen and Malcolm McDowell...

    (1994, TV)
  • Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
    Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
    Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh is the 1995 sequel to the horror film Candyman, an adaptation of the Clive Barker short story "The Forbidden". It stars Tony Todd, Kelly Rowan, William O'Leary, Bill Nunn, Matt Clark and Veronica Cartwright.-Plot:...

    (1995)
  • Gods and Monsters
    Gods and Monsters
    Gods and Monsters is a 1998 drama film that recounts the last days of the life of troubled film director James Whale, whose homosexuality is a central theme. It stars Ian McKellen as Whale, along with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes...

    (1998)
  • The Others
    The Others (TV series)
    The Others is an American TV series created by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, and produced by Delusional Films, NBC and DreamWorks Television. It ran for 13 40-minute episodes from February 5, 2000 to June 10, 2000, airing on NBC in the US, Five in the UK and Nine in Australia...

    - (2000, TV: 1 Episode)
  • Kinsey
    Kinsey (film)
    Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...

    (2004)
  • Dreamgirls
    Dreamgirls (film)
    Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...

    (2006)
  • The Big C
    The Big C (TV series)
    The Big C is a Showtime original television series created by Darlene Hunt which premiered on August 16, 2010. It drew the largest audience for a Showtime original series premiere in eight years. On September 20, 2010, The Big C was renewed for a second season which premiered on June 27, 2011...

    (2010, TV: 2 Episode)
  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is a 2011/2012 two-part romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the The Twilight Saga series...

    (2011)
  • The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
    The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn, is a 2011/2012 two-part romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The two parts form the fourth and final installment in the The Twilight Saga series...

    (2012)

Writer

  • Strange Behavior
    Strange Behavior
    Strange Behavior is a 1981 mystery horror film directed by Michael Laughlin, written by Bill Condon, and starring Michael Murphy. It is a homage to the pulp horror films of the 1950s...

    (1982)
  • Strange Invaders
    Strange Invaders
    Strange Invaders is a spoof science-fiction film made in 1983, as a tribute to the 1950s films, but most notably The Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It stars Paul Le Mat, Nancy Allen and Diana Scarwid...

    (1983)
  • Sister, Sister
    Sister, Sister (1987 film)
    Sister, Sister is a 1987 Southern Gothic thriller directed and co-written by Bill Condon. The film stars Eric Stoltz, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Judith Ivey.-Plot summary:Matt Rutledge goes on vacation to the Louisiana bayou country...

    (1987)
  • F/X2
    F/X2
    F/X2 is a 1991 American action thriller film directed by Richard Franklin and starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy. It is a sequel to the 1986 film F/X.-Plot:...

    (1991)
  • Murder 101
    Murder 101
    Murder 101 is the name of a series of two-hour TV movies appearing regularly on the Hallmark Channel since 2006. In it, Dick Van Dyke stars as professor Dr. Jonathan Maxwell, an absent-minded and brilliant criminologist. His son Barry Van Dyke co-stars as a former cop who is working as a private...

    (1991) (TV) (written by)
  • Gods and Monsters
    Gods and Monsters
    Gods and Monsters is a 1998 drama film that recounts the last days of the life of troubled film director James Whale, whose homosexuality is a central theme. It stars Ian McKellen as Whale, along with Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich, and David Dukes...

    (1998) (screenplay)
  • Chicago
    Chicago (2002 film)
    Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....

    (2002) (screenplay)
  • Shortcut to Happiness (2003) (screenplay)
  • Kinsey
    Kinsey (film)
    Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...

    (2004) (written by)
  • Dreamgirls
    Dreamgirls (film)
    Dreamgirls is a 2006 musical drama film, directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The film debuted in three special road show engagements beginning December 15, 2006 before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006...

    (2006) (screenplay)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK