Julian Fellowes

Julian Fellowes
Born	Julian Alexander Fellowes 17 August 1949 (1949-08-17) (age 60) Cairo, Egypt
Spouse(s)	Emma Joy Kitchener (1990-present)

Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, DL^[1] (born 17 August 1949), known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist and screenwriter.

Personal life

Fellowes was born in Cairo, Egypt, the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II) and his first wife, Olwen. Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it.^[2] Fellowes was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998. They have a son, Peregrine, who was educated at Winchester College.

Career

Fellowes played the part of Kilwillie in the television series Monarch of the Glen. Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial Our Friends in the North. He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of The Scarlet Pimpernel and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel Sharpe's Regiment.

He wrote the screenplay for Gosford Park, directed by Robert Altman and won the Oscar for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.

His novel Snobs was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class and concerned the marriage of an upper-middle class girl, Edith Lavery - the daughter of an accountant and socially aspiring mother - to Charles, Earl Broughton - the son of the Marquess of Uckfield. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. Snobs was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries. In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.

He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder, which he wrote and also introduced on screen. He also penned the script to the current West End musical Mary Poppins, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006. In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film Separate Lies. He is the presenter of Never Mind the Full Stops, a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006. Other screenwriting credits include Vanity Fair. He has written speeches for members of the Conservative Party.

2009 saw the release of Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt, for which he wrote the original script, as well as the publication of his novel, Past Imperfect (novel), also a Sunday Times Best Seller. It deals with the Debutante Season of 1968, comparing the world then to the world of 2008. Despite its familiar territory, Fellowes insists it is not about class but about time, and what time does to lives. It was chosen as a Richard & Judy Summer Read.

References

External links

• Julian Fellowes at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Bella Stander, Bookreporter.com
• Author Interview Podcast with Paula Shackleton, BookBuffet.com