Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish playwright and filmmaker. Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed two critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, ''

My Left Foot ''My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown'', also known simply as ''My Left Foot'', is a 1989 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jim Sheridan adapted by Sheridan and Shane Connaughton from the 1954 memoir of the same name by Christy ...

'' and ''

In the Name of the Father IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Indepen ...

'', and later directed the films ''

The Boxer "The Boxer" is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fifth studio album, '' Bridge over Troubled Water'' (1970). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, it was released as a standalone sing ...

'' and '' In America''. Sheridan received six Academy Award nominations.Ebert, Roger
"Coach Carter"
RogerEbert.com, 14 January 2005. Retrieved on 20 August 2006.

Life and career

Jim Sheridan was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 6 February 1949. He is the brother of playwright

Peter Sheridan Peter Sheridan (born 1952) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and director. He lives in Dublin. His awards include the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. In 1980 he was writer-in-residence in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and his short film, Th ...

. The family ran a lodging house, while Anna Sheridan worked at a hotel and Peter Sheridan Snr was a railway clerk with

CIÉ Córas Iompair Éireann (''Irish Transport Company''), or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the republic and jointly with its Northern Ireland counter ...

. Sheridan's early education was at a Christian Brothers school. In 1969 he attended

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

to study English and History. In 1972, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He became involved in student theater there, where he met

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academy ...

, who also was later to become an important Irish film director. After graduating from UCD in 1972, Sheridan and his brother began writing and staging plays, and in the late 1970s began working with the Project Theatre Company. In 1981, Sheridan emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, but eventually settled in the

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

section of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He enrolled in

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

and became the artistic director of the Irish Arts Center. Sheridan returned to Ireland in the late 1980s. In 1989, he directed ''

'', which became a critical and commercial success and won

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English retired actor. Often described as one of the preeminent actors of his generation, he received numerous accolades throughout his career which spanned over four decades, incl ...

and

Brenda Fricker Brenda Fricker (born 17 February 1945) is an Irish actress, whose career has spanned six decades on stage and screen. She has appeared in more than 30 films and television roles. In 1990, she became the first Irish actress to win an Academy Awar ...

Academy Awards. He followed that with '' The Field'' (with

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in ''This Sporting ...

) in 1990; then with ''

'' in 1993, a fictionalized re-telling of the case of the

Guildford Four Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. The film won the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear (german: Goldener Bär) is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin, featured on both the coat of arms and flag of Berlin. History The winn ...

at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1996 he co-wrote ''

Some Mother's Son ''Some Mother's Son'' is a 1996 film written and directed by Irish filmmaker Terry George, co-written by Jim Sheridan, and based on the true story of the 1981 hunger strike in the Maze Prison, in Northern Ireland. Provisional Irish Republican A ...

'' with Terry George. ''

'' (with

) was nominated for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for best film drama in 1997. The film was Sheridan's third collaboration with Day-Lewis after ''My Left Foot'' and ''In the Name of the Father'', making him the only director to work with Day-Lewis on three films. In 2003, he released the semi-autobiographical '' In America'', which tells the story of a family of Irish immigrants trying to succeed in New York. The film received positive reviews and earned

Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for tw ...

and

Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...

Academy Award nominations. In 2005 he released ''

Get Rich or Die Tryin' ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing wi ...

'', a film starring rap star

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

. Sheridan helmed the 2009 film ''

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

'', starring

Tobey Maguire Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing Peter Parker (Sam Raimi film series), the title character from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in film#Sam Raimi films, ''Spider-Man'' tril ...

and

Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal (; ; born December 19, 1980) is an American actor. Born into the Gyllenhaal family, he is the son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, and his older sister is actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. He beg ...

, which was shot in New Mexico. He also directed the thriller '' Dream House'', which starred

Daniel Craig Daniel Wroughton Craig (born 2 March 1968) is an English-American actor who gained international fame playing the secret agent James Bond in the film series, beginning with '' Casino Royale'' (2006) and in four further instalments, up to '' ...

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. After her family moved to Australia, she made her film debut there in the drama '' For Love Alone'' (1986) and then appeared in three television series, '' Hey Dad..!'' (1990), '' ...

, and

Rachel Weisz Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970 ) is an English actress. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Weisz, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Laurence Olivier Award, and a BAFTA Award. We ...

Jim Sheridan at Q&A at Summer Film School 2022

He is the son of Anne and Pete Sheridan. He has 3 daughters, Kirsten Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan, Tess Sheridan with Fran Sheridan. He had another daughter Amira Clodagh Sheridan with the Film Director Zahara Moufid. He has 6 siblings in His family: Ita Rafferty, Peter Sheridan, John Sheridan, Frankie Sheridan, Gerard Sheridan and Paul Sheridan. In 2015, Sheridan was awarded UCD Alumnus of the Year in Arts & Humanities.

Filmography

Films

Executive producer * ''

Borstal Boy ''Borstal Boy'' is a 1958 autobiographical book by Brendan Behan. The story depicts a young, fervently idealistic Behan, who loses his naïveté over the three years of his sentence to a juvenile borstal, softening his radical Irish republican ...

'' (2000) * '' On the Edge'' (2001) * ''

Bloody Sunday Bloody Sunday may refer to: Historical events Canada * Bloody Sunday (1923), a day of police violence during a steelworkers' strike for union recognition in Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia * Bloody Sunday (1938), police violence aga ...

'' (2002) * ''Where's Daddy!'' (2006) (Short film) * ''Dollhouse'' (2012) * ''Omar Sharif's Tribute'' (2015) (Documentary) * ''The Making of the Secret Scripture'' (2017) (Documentary) * ''Inside Apollo House'' (2017) (TV documentary film) * ''The Making of 11th Hour'' (2017) (Documentary short) * ''Shelter me: Apollo House'' (2018) (Documentary) * ''First Disco'' (2019) (Short film) * ''Hitmanforhire.net'' (TBA) Acting credits

Television series

Music video

* "

You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart "You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart" is a song by Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor, written by Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer for the soundtrack to the 1993 film '' In the Name of the Father'', starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma ...

" by

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

(1994)

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

* Best Original Screenplay – '' In America'' (2004), nomination (as co-writer) * Best Adapted Screenplay – ''

'' (1994), nomination (as co-writer) * Best Director – ''In the Name of the Father'' (1994), nomination (as director) * Best Picture – ''In the Name of the Father'' (1994), nomination (as producer) * Best Adapted Screenplay – ''

'' (1990), nomination (as co-writer) * Best Director – ''My Left Foot'' (1990), nomination (as director)

Berlin Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

– ''In the Name of the Father'', winner * 1998, Golden Bear – ''

'', nomination

British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...

* Best Adapted Screenplay – ''In the Name of the Father'' (1993), nomination (as co-writer)

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

s *Best Screenplay – ''In America'' (2002), nomination (as co-writer) *Best Director – ''The Boxer'' (1997), nomination

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

* Best Director – ''In America'' (2002), nomination * Best Director - ''

The Secret Scripture ''The Secret Scripture'' is a 2008 novel written by Irish writer Sebastian Barry. Plot summary The main character is an old woman, Roseanne McNulty, who now resides in the Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital. Having been a patient for some fift ...

'' (2016), nomination * Best Director - ''

'' (2009), winner * Lifetime Achievement Award - (2015), Winner

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

* Best Original Screenplay – ''In America'' (2002), winner (as co-writer)

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...

* Best Original Screenplay – ''In America'' (2002), nomination (as co-writer)

Gregory Peck Award The Gregory Peck Award for Cinematic Excellence is an award given at the San Diego International Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival (SDIFF) to honor the career achievement of a film actor, producer or director. It is named in memo ...

* Lifetime Achievement - Dingle International Film Festival (2009)

References

External links

* *
Jim Sheridan Bibliography
(via UC Berkeley) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Jim 1949 births Living people 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Alumni of University College Dublin Irish film directors Irish film producers Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish male screenwriters Irish racehorse owners and breeders Film people from Dublin (city) Tisch School of the Arts alumni Directors of Golden Bear winners