Frederic Michael Raphael

FRSL The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

(born 14 August 1931) is an American-born British novelist, biographer, journalist and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for ''Darling'', '' Far from the Madding Crowd,'' '' Two for the Road'', and Stanley Kubrick's last film ''

Eyes Wide Shut ''Eyes Wide Shut'' is a 1999 erotic mystery psychological drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick. It is based on the 1926 novella '' Dream Story'' () by Arthur Schnitzler, transferring the story's setting from earl ...

''. Raphael rose to prominence in the early 1960s with the publication of several acclaimed novels, but most notably with the release of the

John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...

film '' Darling'', starring Julie Christie and Dirk Bogarde, a romantic drama set in

Swinging London The Swinging Sixties was a youth-driven cultural revolution that took place in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1960s, emphasising modernity and fun-loving hedonism, with Swinging London denoted as its centre. It saw a flourishing in ...

, for which he won the

Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

in 1966. Two years later he was nominated again in the same category, this time for his work on Stanley Donen’s '' Two for the Road'', starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. Since the death of screenwriter D. M. Marshman Jr. in 2015, he is the earliest surviving recipient of the

, and the sole surviving recipient of the now retired BAFTA category of Best British Screenplay. In addition to his work in film and television, he has written over 20 novels, and a number of non-fiction books, including biographies of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

and

Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing ''The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Judaea ...

, as well as a memoir of his time working with

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

, entitled ''Eyes Wide Open''.

Early life and education

Raphael was born in 1931 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to an American Jewish mother from Chicago, Irene Rose (née Mauser), and a British Jewish father, Cedric Michael Raphael, an employee of the Shell Oil Company who had been transferred to the United States from Shell's London office. In 1938, when Raphael was seven, to his surprise the family moved to EnglandFrederic Raphael, ''Antiquity Matters'' (2017), "Introduction", p. ix: "I am an accidental classicist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1931, with every expectation of growing up in America..." and settled in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was educated at Copthorne Preparatory School,

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

, and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Career

Raphael won an

for the screenplay of the movie '' Darling'' (1965) and two years later received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay of '' Two for the Road''. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1967 film adaptation of

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

's '' Far From the Madding Crowd'' directed by

His articles and book reviews have appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines, including the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' and ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''. He has published more than twenty novels, the best-known being the semi-autobiographical '' The Glittering Prizes'' (1976), which traces the lives of a group of

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

undergraduates in post-war Britain as they move through university and into the wider world. The original six-part BBC television series, from which the book was adapted, won him a

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Writer of the Year Award. The sequel, ''Fame and Fortune'', which continues the story to 1979, was adapted in 2007 and broadcast on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. In 2010, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a further sequel in a series entitled ''Final Demands'', with

Tom Conti Tommaso Antonio Conti (born 22 November 1941) is a Scottish actor. Conti has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award and a Laurence Olivier Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards ...

as Adam Morris, the central character, bringing the story to the late 1990s. Raphael has published several history books, collections of essays, and translations. He has also written biographies of

and

. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 1964. In 1999, Raphael published ''Eyes Wide Open'', a memoir of his collaboration with the director

on the screenplay of ''

'', Kubrick's final movie. Raphael wrote a detailed account of his working with Kubrick, based on his own journals, but upon its publication the book was publicly criticised by several of the director's friends and family members, among them Christiane Kubrick, Jan Harlan, and

Michael Herr Michael David Herr (April 13, 1940 – June 23, 2016) was an American writer and war correspondent, known as the author of '' Dispatches'' (1977), a memoir of his time as a correspondent for ''Esquire'' (1967–1969) during the Vietnam War. The ...

, for its alleged unflattering portrayal of him. Referring to an article by Raphael about his book in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'',

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

and

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and film producer. Regarded as a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood icon, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Tom Cruise, various accolades, includ ...

also professed criticism. Frederic Raphael

That year,

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

published a new translation of

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. He is considered one of the most significant representatives of Viennese Modernism. Schnitzler’s works, which include psychological dramas and narratives ...

's '' Dream Story'', the basis for ''

'', featuring a new introduction by Raphael.

Personal life

He married Sylvia Betty Glatt, known as 'Beetle', on 17 January 1955, and they had three children and nine grandchildren. His daughter, Sarah Raphael, was an English artist known for her portraits. She died in 2001.

Selected works

Film and TV

Fiction

* ''Obbligato'' (1956) * ''The Earlsdon Way'' (1958) * ''The Limits of Love'' (1960) * ''A Wild Surmise'' (1961) * ''The Graduate Wife'' (1962) * ''The Trouble with England'' (1962) * ''Lindmann'' (1963) * '' Darling'' (1965) (novelization of his screenplay) * ''Orchestra and Beginners'' (1967) * ''Like Men Betrayed'' (1970) * ''Who Were You With Last Night?'' (1971) * ''April, June and November'' (1972) * ''Richard's Things'' (1973) * ''California Time'' (1975) * '' The Glittering Prizes'' (1976) (adapted from the TV series) * ''Sleeps Six and other stories'' (1979) (short story collection) * ''Heaven and Earth'' (1985) * ''Think of England'' (1986) * ''After the War'' (1990) * ''The Hidden Eye'' (1990) * ''Of Gods and Men'' (1992) * ''A Double Life'' (1993) * ''The Latin Lover and Other Stories'' (1994) * ''Coast to Coast'' (1998) * ''Fame and Fortune'' (2007) (sequel to ''The Glittering Prizes'') * ''Final Demands'' (2010) (sequel to ''Fame and Fortune'') * ''Private Views'' (2015)

Non-fiction

* ''Somerset Maugham and his World'' (1976) * ''The List of Books: A Library of Over 3000 Works'' (1981) (with Kenneth McLeish) * ''Byron'' (1982) * ''The Necessity of Anti-Semitism'' (1998) * ''Popper: Historicism and Its Poverty'' (1998) * ''Some Talk of Alexander: A Journey Through Space and Time in the Greek World'' (2006) * ''Literary Genius: 25 Classic Writers Who Define English & American Literature'' (2007) One Chapter on

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary criticism, literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history ...

* ''How Stanley Kubrick Met His Waterloo'' (2011) (for the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

) * ''A Jew Among Romans: The Life and Legacy of Flavius Josephus'' (2013) * ''Distant Intimacy: A Friendship in the Age of the Internet'' (2013) (with

Joseph Epstein Joseph Epstein (October 16, 1911 – April 11, 1944), also known as Colonel Gilles and as Joseph Andrej, was a Polish-born Jewish communist activist and a French Resistance leader during World War II. He was executed by the Germans. Commun ...

) * ''Where Were We?: The Conversation Continues'' (2015) (with Joseph Epstein) * ''Anti-Semitism'' (2015) * ''The World's Game'' (2024)

Translations

* ''The Serpent Son = Oresteia'' by

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

(translated with Kenneth McLeish) (1978) * ''The Poems of

Catullus Gaius Valerius Catullus (; ), known as Catullus (), was a Latin neoteric poet of the late Roman Republic. His surviving works remain widely read due to their popularity as teaching tools and because of their personal or sexual themes. Life ...

'' (translated with Kenneth McLeish) (1979)

Memoirs

* ''Eyes Wide Open: A Memoir of

'' (1999) * ''Personal Terms'' (2001) * ''The Benefits of Doubt: Essays'' (2003) * ''A Spoilt Boy: A Memoir of a Childhood'' (2003) * ''Rough Copy: Personal Terms 2'' (2004) * ''Cuts and Bruises: Personal Terms 3'' (2006) * ''Ticks and Crosses: Personal Terms 4'' (2009) * ''Ifs and Buts: Personal Terms 5'' (2011) * ''There and Then: Personal Terms 6'' (2013) * ''Going Up: To Cambridge and Beyond - A Writer's Memoir'' (2015) * ''Against the Stream: Personal Terms 7'' (2018) * ''Last Post'' (2023)

References

External links

Raphael film reference entry
*
Raphael's BFI entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphael, Frederic 1931 births Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Best British Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners 20th-century British screenwriters Jewish American journalists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Living people People educated at Copthorne Preparatory School People educated at Charterhouse School 20th-century British male writers 21st-century British screenwriters 21st-century British male writers