Guy Ritchie Biography

Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English filmmaker known for his crime films. He left secondary school and got entry-level jobs in the film industry in the mid-1990s. He eventually graduated to directing commercials. He directed his first film in 1995, a 20-minute short which impressed investors who backed his first feature film, the crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). He then directed another crime comedy, Snatch (2000). His next two films, the romantic comedy Swept Away (2002) and the crime drama Revolver (2005) were not commercial or critical successes. The next crime drama, RocknRolla (2008), received mixed reviews and a modest box office return. In 2009, he directed his first films in the action mystery genre, with Sherlock Holmes (2009) and its sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). Both films were major box office successes, and the two films received positive, and moderately positive reviews, respectively.

Early life

Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, the second of two children of Amber (ne Parkinson) and Captain John Vivian Ritchie (b. 1928), former Seaforth Highlanders serviceman and advertising executive. John's father was Major Stewart Ritchie, who died in France, in 1940, during World War II. John's mother was Doris Margaretta McLaughlin (b. 1896), daughter of Vivian Guy McLaughlin (b. 1865) and Edith Martineau (b. 1866), this last by whom she shares close common ancestors with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. The McLaughlins have a pedigree going back to King Edward I of England. Ritchie's mother, Amber, later married a baronet. His father's second marriage was to Shireen Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Brompton, a former model and later Conservative politician and life peer.

Ritchie, who is dyslexic, was expelled from Stanbridge Earls School at the age of 15. He has stated that drug use was the reason for the expulsion; his father has said that it was because his son was caught "cutting class and entertaining a girl in his room."

In addition to his elder sister, Tabitha, a dance instructor, Ritchie has a half-brother, Kevin Bayton, who was born to Amber Parkinson when she was a teenager and given up for adoption. From 1973 until 1980, when they divorced, Ritchie's mother was married to Sir Michael Leighton, 11th baronet. As a divorce, she is correctly styled as Amber, Lady Leighton.

Directing career

In 1998, Ritchie and his dad contacted their friend Peter Morton, of the Hard Rock Cafe chain, wondering if he had any potential investors for a debut film. Morton's nephew, Matthew Vaughn, had been studying film production in Los Angeles. Peter informed Vaughn of Ritchie's new film idea, and Vaughn agreed to produce. Matthew, John, Guy and Peter asked their mutual acquaintance, Trudie Styler, to invest in the production of Ritchie's second film. Styler had seen The Hard Case, and decided that co-funding the project would be a worthwhile opportunity. The production of the film, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was completed in about eight months. It was released in Great Britain in 1998, and after positive reviews, became an international success. Richie was introduced to Madonna, whom he would later wed, when the soundtrack for the film was issued on her Maverick Records label. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which starred Nick Moran, also introduced actors Jason Statham (The Transporter), Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher to worldwide audiences, as well as introducing former footballer Vinnie Jones to a new career as a film star. In 2000 Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay. Ritchie created and produced a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock....

His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt, Benicio del Toro and Dennis Farina, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each other's lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives. It currently has a rating of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Following his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie began focusing his filmmaking on his wife, directing her in both a music video (for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl", a controversial video that showed Madonna engaging in violent behaviour, ostensibly directed at men, including T-boning a car with three men in it, tasering and robbing a man at an ATM, scratching a police car and shooting two officers with a water gun, driving her car through a group of men playing street hockey and incinerating a man by throwing a lighter into a pool of gasoline) and a short film, Star, for the BMW films series. Ritchie's next film, also featuring Madonna, was a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmller hit Swept Away (also entitled Swept Away). Ritchie cast Madonna as a rich, rude socialite who, after a shipwreck, is trapped on a deserted island with a slovenly Communist sailor who humiliates her. Ritchie renamed the woman Amber Leighton after his mother. This film was both a critical and commercial disappointment.

Ritchie's next project was a Vegas-themed heist film entitled Revolver, which was critically panned in the US and UK. Ritchie was involved with a hidden camera show called Swag, for Channel Five in the UK, which turned the table on criminals and opportunists by using stunts to trap them in the act. Ritchie has also written and directed RocknRolla starring Gerard Butler. It scores 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and was generally received well.

In 2008, Ritchie directed a commercial for Nike called "Take It To The Next Level", about a young Dutch footballer who signs for Arsenal, showing the progression of his career from his viewpoint, until he makes his debut for the Netherlands. The commercial features cameo appearances from some football players with music by Eagles of Death Metal. Ritchie's movie Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, received its theatrical release on 25 December 2009. The film was given generally positive reviews and grossed more than $520 million worldwide, becoming Ritchie's most successful film financially. The sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, was released on 16 December 2011. In June 2012 it was announced that Ritchie would direct an adaptation of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. On 29 October 2012, Ritchie produced a game trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Ritchie directed Warner Bros.' The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which was filmed in 2013 in London and Italy, and was released in August 2015. In January 2014, Warner Bros set Ritchie to direct a new multi-film version of the King Arthur legend titled Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur, which is scheduled for an 24 March 2017 release with Lionel Wigram as producer and Joby Harold as screenwriter. Idris Elba is in talks to play a Merlin-esque figure who trains and mentors Arthur. Charlie Hunnam will play King Arthur by Ritchie's choice.

Personal life

On 18 May 2000, Ritchie was arrested by the police after he assaulted a 20-year-old man outside the Kensington home he shared with Madonna, causing actual bodily harm. Ritchie started training in Shotokan karate at the age of seven at the Budokwai in London, where he later achieved a black belt in judo. He also has a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In February 2011 a 6m house he owns in London's Fitzrovia was occupied briefly by members of The Really Free School, a squatter organization.

On 22 December 2000, Guy married American singer Madonna at Skibo Castle in Scotland. They have a son, Rocco John Ritchie (born 11 August 2000 in Los Angeles) and adopted a Malawian baby boy in 2006, David (born 24 September 2005). On 15 October 2008, British media reported that a split was "imminent" between Ritchie and Madonna. The split was confirmed by their spokesperson and Ritchie and Madonna went public with the split because they "can"?t bear to live with the pretense any longer".

On 15 December 2008, it was announced by Madonna's spokeswoman that the singer had agreed to a divorce settlement with Ritchie, the terms of which grant him between 50 million and 60 million, a figure that includes the value of the couple's London pub and residence and Wiltshire estate in England. Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage was dissolved by District Judge Reid by decree nisi at the clinical Principal Registry of the Family Division in High Holborn, London. Madonna and Ritchie entered into a compromise agreement for Rocco and David, then ages eight and three respectively, and divided the children's time between Ritchie's London home and Madonna's in New York, where the two will be joined by her daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.

On 30 July 2015, Ritchie married model Jacqui Ainsley, with whom he has three children: son Rafael (born September 2011), daughter Rivka, (born November 2012) and son Levi (born June 2014).

Filmography

Year	Film	Notes	Credited as
1995	The Hard Case	20 min. short film	Director		Screenwriter
1998	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	Feature film debut	Director		Screenwriter
2000	Snatch		Director		Screenwriter
2001	The Hire: Star	BMW short film commerical	Director
2001	Mean Machine			Executive producer
2002	Swept Away	With Madonna	Director		Screenwriter
2005	Revolver		Director		Screenwriter
2007	Suspect	Television	Director
2008	RocknRolla		Director	Producer	Screenwriter
2009	Sherlock Holmes		Director
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows		Director
2015	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.		Director	Producer	Screenwriter
2017	Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur	Filming	Director	Producer