Trix Worrell (born 1959) is a
St Lucia-born writer, composer and director best known as the creator and writer of television
sitcoms ''
Desmond's'' and ''
Porkpie
A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, usually served either at room temperature or cold (although often served hot in Yorkshire). It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock ...
'' for
Channel 4. His son is actor
Elliot Barnes-Worrell.
Biography
Worrell started as a theatre writer and director. He went on to create the Albany Basement Theatre Company and has written and directed plays in most of the leading London fringe theatres from Upstairs at the
Royal Court to
Ovalhouse. A graduate of the
National Film and Television School
The National Film and Television School (NFTS) is a film, television and games school established in 1971 and based at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England. It is featured in the 2021 ranking by ''The Hollywood Repor ...
, and winner of
Channel 4's "Debut" writers competition, Worrell went on to create, write and direct ''
Desmond's'' and ''
Porkpie
A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, usually served either at room temperature or cold (although often served hot in Yorkshire). It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock ...
'' for Channel 4 and ''What You Looking At'' for
London Weekend Television.
He has written the scripts for several award ceremonies, including MTV Europe Awards for
Ali G
Alistair Leslie Graham, better known as Ali G, is a satirical fictional character created and performed by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. A faux-streetwise poseur from Staines, Ali G speaks in rude boy-style Multicultural London English a ...
in Frankfurt, for
P Diddy in Barcelona, the
MOBO Awards and the
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
Windrush Ceremony. Worrell directed an internet drama entitled ''Dog Endz'', and the critically acclaimed one-woman show ''Little Big Woman'', starring
Llewella Gideon, at
Leicester Square Theatre. He has also taught in three of the most highly established film schools in Europe; at the
NFTS in the UK,
La Fémis in Paris, and Lodz in Poland.
Screen credits include ''
For Queen and Country'' which was produced by
Working Title Films and directed by
Martin Stellman and which starred
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
,
Amanda Redman and
Sean Chapman.
Worrell started Wicked Films and Trijbits & Worrell with his business partner
Paul Trijbits
Paul Trijbits is a Dutch-born film and television producer living in London, with his wife Patricia and children Jakob and Lea.
Career
Before joining the UK Film Council, Paul Trijbits produced a number of feature films including Richard Stan ...
. They opened up offices in Los Angeles and went on to work with
New Line Cinema,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
,
Universal,
Disney,
ABC,
Carsey-Werner,
Whoopi Goldberg, ''
The Cosby Show'' and
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...
. His company produced and developed a number of films; among the most notable are:
*''
The Young Americans'', written and directed by
Danny Cannon and starring Harvey Kietel, Vigo Mortessen,
Thandiwe Newton and
Iain Glen.
*''Roseanna’s Grave'', directed by
Paul Weiland and starring
Jean Reno and
Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes J. Ruehl (; born February 28, 1948) is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, an ...
.
*''Hardware'', directed by
Richard Stanley and starring
Dylan McDermott.
Worrell is a
BAFTA nominee, British Comedy and the
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
award winner. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Medal from the Royal Television Society. He is the first recipient of "Vantage", a special award presented at
BAFTA by
Screen Nation
The Screen Nation Film & TV Awards, formerly the bfm (black filmmaker) Film and TV Awards, was founded in September 2003 by independent film producer Charles Thompson MBE, as a platform to raise the profile of black British and international fil ...
. Worrell was made an honorary member of the British Comedy Academy in 2011.
He was also voted one of the "100 Great Black Britons Throughout History" by the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
''.
Trix Worrell on the 100 Great Black Britons website
/ref> An excerpt from '' Desmond's'' was used in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In 2016, he was an Artistic Associate Producer on ''The Works'' short film, written and directed by Elliot Barnes-Worrell, starring Ralph Fiennes and Sharon D. Clarke
Sharon Delores Clarke (born 12 August 1966) is an English actress and singer. She is a three-time Olivier award winner, and is best known to television audiences for her role as Lola Griffin in the medical drama ''Holby City'', and as Grace O'Br ...
and produced by Lisa Osborne. Worrell is currently working on his first novel, ''Brown Skins in the Rain'', a coming-of-age comedy set in 1969; and a children's illustrated book set in Hastings called ''Sea Dogs''.
References
External links
Trix Worrell and 100 Great Black Britons
*
*
Trix Worrell's entry in the British Film Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worrell, Trix
1959 births
Living people
English people of Saint Lucian descent
Saint Lucian emigrants to the United Kingdom
Black British writers
British television writers
British television producers
British male screenwriters
Alumni of the National Film and Television School
British male television writers