John Logan (writer)

John Logan
Born	John David Logan (1961-09-24) September 24, 1961 San Diego, California, United States
Occupation	Playwright, screenwriter, producer
Years active	1996–present

John David Logan (born September 24, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film producer, and television producer.

Early life

Logan was born in San Diego on September 24, 1961. His parents emigrated to the US from Northern Ireland via Canada.^[1] The youngest of three children, he has an older brother and sister. Logan grew up in California and New Jersey, before moving to Chicago to attend Northwestern University, where he graduated in 1983.^[2]

Career

Logan was a successful playwright in Chicago for many years before turning to screenwriting. His first play, Never the Sinner, tells the story of the infamous Leopold and Loeb case. Subsequent plays include Hauptmann, about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, and Riverview, a musical melodrama set at Chicago's famed amusement park.

His play Red, about artist Mark Rothko, was produced by the Donmar Warehouse, London in December 2009,^[3] and on Broadway in 2010, where it received six Tony Awards, the most of any play, including best play, best direction of a play for Michael Grandage and best featured actor in a play for Eddie Redmayne. Redmayne and Alfred Molina had originated their roles in London and also performed on Broadway, for a limited run ending in late June.^[4]

Logan wrote Any Given Sunday and the television film RKO 281, before gaining an Academy Award nomination for co-writing (with David Franzoni and William Nicholson) the Best Picture winner Gladiator in 2000. He received another nomination for writing The Aviator (2004), starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese. Other notable films written by Logan include Star Trek: Nemesis, The Time Machine, The Last Samurai, and the Tim Burton-directed musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, for which he received a Golden Globe Award.

Logan's recent feature films include Rango, an animated feature starring Johnny Depp and directed by Gore Verbinski, the film adaptation of Shakespeare's Coriolanus directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes, the film adaptation of The Invention of Hugo Cabret directed by Martin Scorsese and the James Bond film Skyfall, along with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade. He wrote the next Bond film, Spectre (2015).

Two new plays by Logan premiered in 2013; Peter and Alice, directed by Michael Grandage and starring Judi Dench and Ben Whishaw opened in London at the Noël Coward Theatre on March 25, 2013 and I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers, directed by Joe Mantello and starring Bette Midler, opened on Broadway at the Booth Theatre on April 24, 2013.^[5]

He also created the 2014 television series Penny Dreadful starring Josh Hartnett, Eva Green and Timothy Dalton, for which he also serves as sole writer.

Filmography

Accolades

• Nominated, 2011 – Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, for Hugo
• Winner, 2010 – Tony Award Best Play, for Red.
• Winner 2008 – Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• Winner, 1999 – Writers Guild of America Best TV Adapted Writing, for RKO 281
• Nominated, 2004 – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for The Aviator.
• Nominated, 2004 – BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, for The Aviator
• Nominated, 2004 – Writers Guild of America Best Original Screenplay, for The Aviator
• Nominated, 2000 – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Gladiator.
• Nominated, 2000 – BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, for Gladiator
• Nominated, 1999 – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Mini-Series or Movie, for RKO 281

References

External links

• John Logan at the Internet Movie Database
• 2008 Interview with John Logan via the Internet Archive