Rebecca Frayn is an English documentary film maker, screenwriter, novelist and actress.

Career

Rebecca Frayn is a film maker and screenwriter. She has directed a wide variety of quirky documentary essays for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

and ITV on subjects that range from Tory Wives to the Friern Barnet Mental Asylum and identical twins. She played the role of June in the 1979 TV movie '' One Fine Day'', directed by

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

and starring

Robert Stephens Sir Robert Graham Stephens (14 July 193112 November 1995) was an English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. Early life Stephens was born in Shirehampton, Bristol, in 1931, the eldest of three children of shipyard ...

and

Dominic Guard Dominic Guard (born 18 June 1956) is an English child psychotherapist and author, formerly an actor. Early life Guard was born in London on 18 June 1956. His father, Philip Guard, was an English stage actor, his mother, Charlotte Mitchell, a ...

. She appeared uncredited as the photograph image by Denis O'Regan of

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

's character's dead wife, Joanna, in the film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas film, Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous pro ...

'' (2003), directed by

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...

. She made her drama debut as a director with ''Whose Baby?'' for ITV, a TV drama that tackled father's rights, starring

Sophie Okonedo Sophie Okonedo (born 11 August 1968) is a British actress and narrator. The recipient of a Tony Award, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, three BAFTA TV Awards, an Emmy Award, two Laurence Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. She ...

and

Andrew Lincoln Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), known professionally as Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama '' This Life'' (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey i ...

. A screenplay she wrote for the BBC, ''Killing Me Softly'' explored the true story of Sara Thornton, whose conviction for murder helped bring about a reform of the law on domestic violence. She has written and/or directed a number of films about prominent women, including

Leni Riefenstahl Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, Film producer, producer, screenwriter, Film editing, editor, photographer, and actress. She is considered one of the most controversial ...

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American Portrait photography, portrait photographer best known for her portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid ...

and

Nora Ephron Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as ...

. Her screenplay about

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...

, '' The Lady'', directed by Luc Besson and starring

Michelle Yeoh Yeoh Choo Kheng (; born 6 August 1962), known professionally as Michelle Yeoh (), is a Malaysian actress. In a career spanning over four decades, Yeoh has appeared Michelle Yeoh filmography, in projects encompassing a wide array of genres, a ...

and

David Thewlis David Wheeler (born 20 March 1963), better known as David Thewlis (), is an English actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in a variety of genres in both film and television. He has received the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and nomin ...

was awarded the

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

Human Rights Film Award in 2011. Her first novel, ''One Life'', dealt with the complex emotional and ethical landscape of IVF. Her second novel, ''Deceptions'', is a psychological thriller, inspired by a true story; it explores the impact on a family when a child goes missing. After making a short film in 2008 opposing the proposed expansion of London Heathrow Airport, Frayn co-founded We CAN, a group who lobbied the government to take action on climate change in the run up to the 2010 Copenhagen Conference. Frayn wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film '' Misbehaviour'', that deals with the controversy surrounding the 1970 Miss World competition, and the birth of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

Personal life

The daughter of playwright and novelist

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

and his first wife, Gillian (née Palmer), Frayn grew up in North West England. She graduated from the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

in 1984. She married film producer

Andy Harries Andrew Harries''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Volume 15, page 1493, reg # 792. (born 7 April 1954) is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, a UK based production company formed in 2007. ...

in July 1992 and they have three children: twin sons, Jack Harries and Finn Harries, and a daughter Emmy. Frayn had to undergo IVF to have her daughter, an experience which inspired her novel ''One Life''. She has served as chair of Turnham Green Friends, a group that helps to care for the park of that name in Chiswick.

Credits

As novelist

As drama director

As documentary director

As documentary producer

As screen writer

As actress

References

External links

* *
Rebecca Frayn
at SimonAndSchuster.com
Rebecca Frayn
speech at

Intelligence Squared Intelligence Squared is a media company that organizes live debates and other cultural events around the world. It was founded in 2002 in London, where its head office is based, and has affiliates in the US, Australia, and Hong Kong. The debate ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frayn, Rebecca Living people 1962 births English documentary filmmakers English women film directors English women television writers English women screenwriters English women novelists British women documentary filmmakers