Richard LaGravenese (; born October 30, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director, known for '' The Fisher King'', ''

The Bridges of Madison County ''The Bridges of Madison County'' (also published as ''Love in Black and White'') is a 1992 best-selling romance novel by American writer Robert James Waller that tells the story of a married Italian-American woman (WWII war bride) living on a ...

'', and ''

Behind the Candelabra ''Behind the Candelabra'' is a 2013 American biographical drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh. It dramatizes the last ten years in the life of pianist Liberace and the relationship that he had with Scott Thorson. It is based on Thorson's ...

''.

Personal life

LaGravenese was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, the son of a taxi driver. He is of Italian descent. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

in 1980 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting.

Career

LaGravenese wrote '' The Fisher King'' on spec in the late 1980s. It was acquired by Stacey Sher, Lynda Obst, Debra Hill's production company and subsequently directed by

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...

. In New York City during the early 1980s, billed as "The Double R"

comedy duo A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...

, in collaboration with playwright

Richard O'Donnell Richard Mark O'Donnell (born 12 September 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Blackpool. Having started his career with Sheffield Wednesday's youth system, O'Donnell progressed to the first team where he w ...

, LaGravenese co-penned and consecutively performed in several

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...

productions including ''Spare Parts'', ''Blood-Brothers'' at The 78th Street Theatre Lab, The Lion Theatre, and

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Cafe. LaGravanese wrote an adaptation for the famously on-and-off version of the musical ''Gypsy'' for Barbra Streisand. In 2015, he revealed that he'd spent several months working on the script with Streisand. "I had the best time with her. I can’t even tell you. It was like a fantasy come true. I did my first draft and went to her house to do rewrites. She’s so meticulous in the best possible way. We went through it page by page by page."

Filmography

Film

Television

References

7. ^Jeremy Kinser (February 13, 2015
‘The Last Five Years’ Director On His Heartbreaking New Musical And Working On ‘Gypsy’ With Barbra Streisand'

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagravenese, Richard 1959 births Living people Male actors from New York City American male screenwriters Writers from Brooklyn Tisch School of the Arts alumni American film directors of Italian descent American writers of Italian descent Film directors from New York City Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni Screenwriters from New York (state)