Amy Jenkins

Last updated

Amy Jenkins (born 1966, in London) is an English novelist and screenwriter. She is the daughter of political journalist Peter Jenkins and the stepdaughter of The Guardian columnist and author Polly Toynbee. In 2004 she married Jonathan Heawood, and they have one son.

Jenkins was educated at Pimlico School, a state secondary, before attending the sixth form of the private Westminster School. [1] She went on to study law at University College London. Jenkins turned to writing and in 1996 achieved her first significant success with This Life , a BBC television drama series about the lives and loves of a household of solicitors and barristers. She devised the series and wrote several episodes.

Other film, television and journalism work followed and in 1998 she secured a two-novel contract, her first novel, Honeymoon, appearing in 2000. Although it was the second biggest debut novel of the year, selling over 250,000 copies in the UK and Commonwealth, critics noted that a central plot device in Jenkins' work possessed a striking similarity to the premise of Noël Coward's play Private Lives . In Honeymoon a man and woman who seven years previously had a brief affair meet again when they find themselves staying in adjacent hotel rooms on their respective honeymoons; at the opening of Coward's play a divorced couple find themselves honeymooning in adjacent hotel rooms. Her second novel, Funny Valentine, was published in 2002. She wrote and produced the feature film Elephant Juice, released in 2000. She has directed three short films including the "Mr Cool" segment of Tube Tales.

An anniversary special of This Life was broadcast on BBC Two at 9 pm on 2 January 2007.

Jenkins wrote the biographical drama Daphne , screened on BBC Two in 2007, celebrating the centenary of the birth of Daphne du Maurier. [2]

She co-wrote, with Peter Morgan, episode 4 of the second series of The Crown .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daphne du Maurier</span> English novelist (1907–1989)

Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather George du Maurier was a writer and cartoonist.

<i>Private Lives</i> 1930 play by Noël Coward

Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for each other. Its second act love scene was nearly censored in Britain as too risqué. Coward wrote one of his most popular songs, "Someday I'll Find You", for the play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Hickson</span> British actress (1906–1998)

Joan Bogle Hickson OBE was an English actress of theatre, film and television. She was known for her role as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple in the television series Miss Marple. She also narrated a number of Miss Marple stories on audiobooks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Brenneman</span> American actress (born 1964)

Amy Frederica Brenneman is an American actress and producer. She worked extensively in television, coming to prominence as Detective Janice Licalsi in the ABC police drama series NYPD Blue (1993–1994). Brenneman next co-created and starred as Judge Amy Gray in the CBS drama series Judging Amy (1999–2005). She received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for these roles.

<i>Present Laughter</i> Play written by Noël Coward

Present Laughter is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night that urges carpe diem. The play has been frequently revived in Britain, the US and beyond.

Rachael Atlanta Stirling is an English stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Laurence Olivier Award for her stage work. She played Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet, and Millie in the ITV series The Bletchley Circle. She has also guest starred in Lewis and one episode of Doctor Who, co-starring with her mother Diana Rigg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaine Stritch</span> American actress (1925–2014)

Elaine Stritch was an American actress, known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films and television series. Stritch was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1995.

<i>Rebecca</i> (novel) 1938 novel by Daphne du Maurier

Rebecca is a 1938 Gothic novel by the English author Daphne du Maurier. The novel depicts an unnamed young woman who impetuously marries a wealthy widower, before discovering that both he and his household are haunted by the memory of his late first wife, the title character.

Patricia Ann Hodge is an English actress. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in Rumpole of the Bailey (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in Jemima Shore Investigates (1983), Penny in Miranda (2009–2015) and Mrs Pumphrey in All Creatures Great and Small (2021–present).

Gabrielle Drake is a British actress. She appeared in the 1970s in television series The Brothers and UFO. In the early 1970s she appeared in several erotic roles on screen. She later took parts in soap operas Crossroads and Coronation Street. She has also had a stage career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Lancashire</span> English actress (born 1964)

Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire is an English actress. Known for her work in television and theatre, she has received numerous accolades over a career spanning four decades, including three British Academy Television Awards and a nomination for an Olivier Award. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017 for services to drama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alison Steadman</span> British actress (born 1946)

Alison Steadman is an English actress. She received the 1977 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for Abigail's Party, the 1991 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the Mike Leigh film Life Is Sweet and the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Mari in the original production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. In a 2007 Channel 4 poll, the '50 Greatest Actors' voted for by other actors, she was ranked 42.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Sinclair (actor)</span> British actor (1903–1962)

Hugh Sinclair was a British actor. He trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and had a career spanning forty years in theatre, film and television. He worked in Britain and America with some of the 20th Century's most highly regarded actors and directors, including Ray Milland, Elisabeth Bergner, George Cukor and Carol Reed. His principal work was made in the theatre and he headed the cast of two landmark plays in London, Noël Coward's Private Lives in 1945 and the original London production of TS Eliot's The Cocktail Party in 1950. However notable films include Escape Me Never, A Girl Must Live, The Rocking Horse Winner and Circle of Danger. He excelled in light comedy and was known for his comic timing, often playing handsome, debonair characters.

A honeymoon is the traditional holiday taken by newlyweds.

"The God Complex" is the eleventh episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on BBC One on 17 September 2011. It was written by Toby Whithouse and directed by Nick Hurran.

Amanda Coe is an English screenwriter and novelist.

<i>The Wheel Spins</i> 1936 novel

The Wheel Spins is a 1936 mystery novel by British writer Ethel Lina White.

Kate O'Flynn is a British actress. She is known for her performance in National Theatre's production of Port for which she received a Critics' Circle Theatre Award in 2013, as well as starring roles in plays A Taste of Honey in 2014, and The Glass Menagerie for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2017.

"Honeymoon" is the season premiere of the sixth season of the American television police sitcom series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the 113th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by Neil Campbell and directed by Giovani Lampassi. It was the first episode of the series to air on NBC, after the network picked it up when Fox cancelled it in 2018.

<i>Daphne</i> (2007 film) 2007 television biographical drama film

Daphne is a 2007 British biographical drama film written by Amy Jenkins and directed by Clare Beavan. The film is based on the authorised biography, Daphne du Maurier: The Secret Life of the Renowned Storyteller by Margaret Forster. It stars Geraldine Somerville, Elizabeth McGovern and Janet McTeer. It premiered on BBC Two on 12 May 2007. It was filmed on location in London, Devon and Cornwall, where du Maurier spent much of her life and most of her works are set.

References

  1. "Amy Jenkins: Too posh to puff? You've got to be kidding, man". The Independent. 25 January 2004. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  2. Wynn, Patricia. (14 May 2007) Last night on television [ dead link ]. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 10 August 2011.