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

The Fisher King ''The Fisher King'' is a 1991 American fantasy comedy drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, with Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer and Michael Jeter, the film tells th ...

'', '' The Bridges of Madison County'', and '' Behind the Candelabra''.

Personal life

LaGravenese was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, 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 university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's Tisch School of the Arts in 1980 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting.

Career

LaGravenese wrote ''

'' 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-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

. For writing the film, LaGravenese received a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

. In New York City during the early 1980s, billed as "The Double R" comedy duo, in collaboration with playwright Richard O'Donnell, LaGravenese co-penned and consecutively performed in several

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, 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 commerc ...

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

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

Cafe. LaGravenese 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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HuffingtonPostDarkHorizonsCharlieRoseMovieMaker‘The Last Five Years’ Director On His Heartbreaking New Musical And Working On ‘Gypsy’ With Barbra Streisand
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagravenese, Richard 1959 births Living people Male actors from Brooklyn American male screenwriters Writers from Brooklyn Tisch School of the Arts alumni American writers of Italian descent Film directors from New York City Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni Screenwriters from New York (state)