Ronald Harwood facts for kids

Sir Ronald Harwood was a famous writer, playwright, and screenwriter. He was born in South Africa but later became a British citizen. He is best known for his plays and for writing movie scripts.

He wrote the screenplays for well-known films like The Dresser and The Pianist. He won an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for The Pianist in 2003. He was also nominated for an Oscar for The Dresser and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Early Life and Start in Theatre

Ronald Harwood was born Ronald Horwitz in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 9, 1934. His parents were Isobel and Isaac Horwitz.

After going to Sea Point High School, he moved to London in 1951. He wanted to become an actor. He changed his last name from Horwitz to Harwood. This was because someone told him his original name sounded too foreign for a stage actor.

He studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Then, he joined the Shakespeare Company led by Sir Donald Wolfit. From 1953 to 1958, Harwood worked as Sir Donald's personal dresser. A dresser helps actors with their costumes and prepares them for performances.

This experience later inspired him to write his famous play, The Dresser. He also wrote a book about Sir Donald Wolfit.

Becoming a Writer

In 1960, Ronald Harwood started his career as a writer. His first novel, All the Same Shadows, came out in 1961. He also wrote a screenplay for the film Private Potter in 1962 and a play called March Hares in 1964.

He wrote many plays and books. He also created more than 16 screenplays for movies. He often adapted his own plays or other books into movie scripts, rather than writing completely new stories for the screen.

Themes in His Work

Ronald Harwood was very interested in the world of theatre. Many of his works explored the lives of actors and people who work in the theatre. Examples include The Dresser, After the Lions (about a famous actress named Sarah Bernhardt), and Quartet (about older opera singers). He even wrote a history book about theatre called All the World's a Stage.

He also had a strong interest in the Nazi period of history. He explored how people dealt with the difficult choices during that time. His works often showed individuals who had to decide between resisting, deceiving, or compromising with the Nazis.

Some of his works about this period include:

• The film Operation Daybreak, about the assassination of a Nazi leader.
• The Statement, a fictional story about a French collaborator after the war.
• The Pianist, which tells the true story of a Jewish-Polish musician surviving the Nazi occupation of Poland.
• The play Taking Sides, about a German conductor being investigated after the war.
• The play Collaboration, about the composer Richard Strauss and his partnership with a Jewish writer.

Harwood also wrote screenplays for other popular films. These include The Browning Version (1994), Being Julia (2004), and Roman Polanski's version of Oliver Twist (2005).

Awards and Recognition

Ronald Harwood won an Academy Award for his script for The Pianist. He was also nominated for Oscars for The Dresser and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. For The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, he also won a BAFTA award.

He was the president of the English PEN Club from 1989 to 1993. He also led PEN International, an organization for writers, from 1993 to 1997. He was knighted in 2010, which means he was given the title "Sir" by the Queen.

He received many other honors throughout his life. These include honorary degrees from universities and being made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Personal Life

Ronald Harwood moved to England in 1951. In 1959, he married Natasha Riehle. She came from a family of Russian nobility. They had three children: Antony, Deborah, and Alexandra. Natasha passed away in 2013.

The famous actor Sir Antony Sher was his cousin. Ronald Harwood died at his home in Sussex, England, on September 8, 2020, at the age of 85.

See also

• List of British Jews
• List of South Africans