Stephen Beresford (born c. 1972) is an English actor and writer. He is best known for writing the play ''The Last of the Haussmans'', produced by the National Theatre in 2012, and the 2014 historical comedy ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

'', which won the Queer Palm award at the

2014 Cannes Film Festival The 67th Cannes Film Festival was held from 14 to 25 May 2014. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the main competition section. The Palme d'Or was awarded to the Turkish film ''Winter Sleep'' directed by Nuri B ...

Early life

Beresford was born in London and raised in

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

. He began acting with a local children's drama group when he was nine years old, and later attended the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sena ...

Career

After several years of professional work, Beresford found acting not fulfilling enough, and began writing scripts, with several sold to Channel 4 though not produced. Inspired by his upbringing in Dartmouth, he wrote ''The Last of the Haussmans'' and submitted it to the National Theatre. In her review, Kate Kellaway of ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' wrote: "It is with disbelief that one discovers that ''The Last of the Haussmans'' is actor Stephen Beresford's first play. It is a knockout – entertaining, sad and outrageous. If he has more of this quality to write, he is going to be a major name." He was a new entry in 2014 to ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''s Rainbow List at number 17. In 2018, Beresford's stage adaptation of ''

Fanny and Alexander ''Fanny and Alexander'' ( sv, Fanny och Alexander) is a 1982 period drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The plot focuses on two siblings and their large family in Uppsala, Sweden during the first decade of the twentieth century. ...

'' opened at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, not-for-profit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal Vi ...

. Beresford has also continued to work on screenplays, remarking in 2015 that he always looks for projects with an "element of subversion" in them, so that he can find ways to smuggle in messages and meaning. He wrote ''Pride'', inspired by lesbian and

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

activists who raised money to help families affected by the British miners' strike in 1984, at the outset of what would become the

Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) was an alliance of lesbians and gay men who supported the National Union of Mineworkers during the year-long strike of 1984–1985. By the end of the strike, eleven LGSM groups had emerged in the ...

campaign, and then co-wrote ''

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

'', a 2019 biopic of the author

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works '' The Hobbit'' and '' The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Ra ...

. The film, starring

Nicholas Hoult Nicholas Caradoc Hoult (born 7 December 1989) is an English actor. His body of work includes supporting work in big-budget mainstream productions and starring roles in independent projects in both the American and the British film industries. ...

, touches on Tolkien's early life, including his friendships, love of languages, religion, and romance with

Edith Bratt Edith is a feminine given name derived from the Old English words ēad, meaning 'riches or blessed', and is in common usage in this form in English, German, many Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Its French form is Édith. Contractions and ...

. The

Tolkien Estate The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the property of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien, including the copyright for most of his works. The individual copyrights have for the most part been assigned by the estate to subsidiary enti ...

, without viewing the film, stated that it does not endorse the film or its content, though among reviews, Graeme Tuckett of ''

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jeremy Strong Fictional cha ...

'' called it "A subtle, delicate biopic of The Lord of the Rings author." In 2020, Beresford's new play '' The Southbury Child'' was due to open at the

Bridge Theatre The Bridge Theatre is a commercial theatre near Tower Bridge in London that opened in October 2017. It was developed by Nick Starr and Nicholas Hytner as the home of the London Theatre Company, which they founded following their tenancy as execu ...

however due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

the run was postponed until mid-2022, in a production starring

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning fo ...

and directed by

Nicholas Hytner Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner (; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include ''Miss Saigon'', ''Th ...

. He wrote a new play ''Three Kings'' as part of The Old Vic's ''Old Vic: In Camera'' series.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Films *2014 –

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November ...

, Nominated, Best Screenplay – For ''

'' (2014) *2014 – British Academy Film Awards, Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer – For ''

'' (2014), with David Livingstone, producer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beresford, Stephen 1972 births 20th-century English male actors 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century English male actors 21st-century LGBT people Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer BAFTA Award winners British male dramatists and playwrights British male screenwriters English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English television directors English dramatists and playwrights English gay writers English gay actors LGBT actors from England LGBT writers from England LGBT screenwriters LGBT theatre directors LGBT dramatists and playwrights Living people People from Dartmouth, Devon