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Mike Leigh was born in 1943 in
Salford. He trained at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art, at Camberwell
and Central Art Schools, and at the
London Film School.
His first feature film was Bleak
Moments (1971); this was followed
by the full-length television films,
Hard Labour (1973), Nuts in
May (1975), The Kiss of
Death (1976), Who’s Who
(1978), Grown-Ups (1980),
Home Sweet Home (1982),
Meantime (1983), and Four
Days In July (1984), which was
shot entirely on location in Belfast.
His later feature films are High
Hopes (1988), Life Is Sweet
(1990), Naked (1992),
Secrets and Lies (1996),
Career Girls (1997), Topsy-
Turvy (1999), All Or
Nothing (2002), and most recently
‘Vera Drake’ (2004).
Secrets & Lies and Topsy-
Turvy had nine Oscar nominations
between them, Topsy-Turvy
winning two. In 1994, Naked won
Best Director and Best Actor at
Cannes, where two years later
Secrets & Lies won the Palme
d’Or and Best Actress. Vera
Drake won The Golden Lion and the
Best Actress at Venice in 2004, as
well as six BIFA’s, 3 BAFTA’s
including Best Director, and three
Oscar nominations
Mike Leigh has also written and
directed over twenty stage plays, the
best known of which is Abigail’s
Party, which he also directed for
television, and which was recently
revived at Hampstead Theatre, where it
was originally performed in 1977.
In Autumn 2005, Mike Leigh’s latest
play Two Thousand Years has
been enjoying a successful run at the
National Theatre in London, while next
door, the National Film Theatre has
presented a complete retrospective of
Mike Leigh’s films.
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