Andrew Upton

Andrew Upton (born 1 February 1966) is an Australian playwright, screenwriter, and director. He is the husband of the actress Cate Blanchett.

Career

As a playwright, Upton created adaptations of Hedda Gabler, The Cherry Orchard, Cyrano de Bergerac, Don Juan (with Marion Potts), Uncle Vanya, The Maids and Children of the Sun for the Sydney Theatre Company (STC)[1][2] and Maxim Gorky's The Philistines for London's Royal National Theatre.[3][4]

His original play Riflemind,[5] with Hugo Weaving as an ageing rock star planning a comeback tour, opened at the STC on 5 October 2007[6] to favourable reviews.[7] Riflemind opened in London in 2008, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman but closed after a short run due to uniformly poor notices[8][9][10][11] [12] and the pressure of the Global Financial Crisis.[13] In 2008, Upton and wife Cate Blanchett became joint artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company for what became a five-year term.[14][15]

Upton and Blanchett formed a film production company, Dirty Films, whose projects include the short film Bangers (1999) and the feature film Little Fish (2006). Upton wrote, produced, and directed Bangers, which starred Blanchett. He was the associate producer on Little Fish, which also starred Blanchett. In 2006, he wrote the film Gone which was directed by Ringan Ledwidge. Upton wrote the libretto to Alan John's opera Through the Looking Glass which premiered in May 2008.[1]

In June, 2014, Upton was recognised with the Rotary Professional Excellence Award, an award instituted "to honour a person who has demonstrated consistent professional excellence in his or her chosen vocation by contributing to the benefit of the wider community beyond their typical workplace role".[16]

Personal life

Upton and Blanchett met in 1996 on the set of a TV show, and were married on 29 December 1997.[17][18] They have four children: biological sons Dashiell John (born 3 December 2001),[19] Roman Robert (born 23 April 2004),[20] Ignatius Martin (born 13 April 2008),[21] and adopted daughter Edith Vivian Patricia,[22] whose adoption was confirmed on 6 March 2015.[23] They lived in Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia for many years.[24] Following the sale of their property there in late 2015 Upton and Blanchett purchased in early 2016 a historic $6.25 million English manor, Highwell House, in East Sussex, England. [25] Variety Magazine has reported that around the same time the couple also purchased a modern-minded five-bedroom duplex apartment in downtown Sydney once owned by drag entertainer Barry Humphries, a.k.a. Dame Edna Everage, and purchased from “The Celebrity Apprentice Australia” host Mark Bouris for an amount 'somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million'. [26]

References

  1. 1 2 "RGM Literary – Andrew Upton". RGM Artist Group. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  2. ↑ "Sydney Theatre Company Children of the Sun". Sydney Theatre Company. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Australian library collections". Libraries Australia. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  4. ↑ "Andrew Upton on adapting Philistines". National Theatre. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  5. ↑ "Author Profile – Andrew Upton". Currency Press. Archived from the original on 21 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  6. ↑ "Sydney Theatre Company and UBS present: Riflemind by Andrew Upton". Sydney Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  7. ↑ Boland, Michaela (10 October 2007). "Riflemind". Variety. Retrieved 19 July 2008.
  8. ↑ "Who could have imagined that a play about sex and drugs and rock and roll would prove as punishingly boring as this". The Daily Telegraph. London. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  9. ↑ "Michael Billington". The Guardian. London. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  10. ↑ "Riflemind Misfires". The Times. London. 28 September 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Paul (19 September 2008). "A dull sex, drugs and rock and roll reunion". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  12. ↑ "Riflemind gets on reunion bandwagon". Evening Standard.
  13. ↑ "London Run Closes". London Theatre. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2008.
  14. ↑ "For Andrew Upton, it's words that count". The Australian. 17 August 2012.
  15. ↑ "Cate Blanchett on why being CEO is a matter of instinct". Business Review Weekly. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "News: Professional Excellence Award". STC June eNews. STC. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  17. ↑ "Cate Blanchett: Getting married is insanity". People.com. 12 January 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  18. ↑ "Cate Blanchett's wedding regrets". Celebrity Bride Guide. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  19. ↑ "Cat Blanchett and Dashiell hop to it". People.com. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  20. ↑ "Cate Blanchett gives birth to a son". People.com. 26 April 2004. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Cate Blanchett welcomes third son, Ignatius Martin". People.com. 13 April 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  22. ↑ "Cate Blanchett Has Adopted a Baby Girl". The Hollywood Reporter. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Rothman, Michael (6 March 2015). "Cate Blanchett and Husband Andrew Upton Adopt a Baby Girl". ABC News. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  24. ↑ Hannah Edwards (8 July 2007). "Welcome to Cate Blanchett's dream eco-home". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  25. ↑ Alexandra Spangaro (18 January 2016). "Cate Blanchett purchases $6 million English manor 'Highwell House'". domain.com.
  26. ↑ Mark David (26 January 2016). "Cate Blanchett Picks Up U.K. Country Estate". Variety.

External links


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