Philip Ridley

Philip Ridley was born in the East End of London, England, on March 24th 1958. He studied painting at St. Martin?s School of Art and his work has been exhibited throughout Europe and Japan. He started as both a performance artist and the creator of a long sequence of dark and disturbing charcoal drawings (one of which, 'The Black Bird' was exhibited at the ICA in London while he was still an art student, and became a controversial hit, portraying, as it did, a man with a huge erection ejuculating a black bird) but writing has always been a huge part of his work, and Ridley himself had always described himself as a 'storyteller.'

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Ridley has written three books for adults: 'Crocodilia', 'In the Eyes of Mr Fury' and 'Flamingoes In Orbit'; the highly acclaimed screenplay for the 'The Krays' feature film; five adult stage plays: 'The Pitchfork Disney', the multi-award-winning 'The Fastest Clock in the Universe', 'Ghost from a Perfect Place', 'Vincent River' and the controversial 'Mercury Fur'; and a further five plays for young people: 'Karamazoo', 'Fairytaleheart', 'Moonfleece', 'Sparkleshark' and 'Brokenville'.

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He has also directed two films from his own screenplays: 'The Reflecting Skin' ? winner of eleven international awards ? and 'The Passion of Darkly Noon' (winner of the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film Festival). Philip has also written many books for children including 'Scribbleboy' (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal), 'Kasper in the Glitter' (nominated for the Whitbread Prize), 'Mighty Fizz Chilla' (shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award), 'ZinderZunder', 'Vinegar Street', and 'Krindlekrax' (winner of both the Smarties Prize and WH Smith?s Mind-Boggling Books Award), the stage play of which ? adapted by Philip himself ? was premiered at the Birmingham Rep Theatre in the summer of 2002.

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He is also a photographer of some repute (he did his own cover image for his collected first three stage plays, 'RIDLEY: PLAYS ONE') and a poet (several of his poems have appeared in many collections). He co-wrote, with Nick Bicat, two songs that appeared in his film 'The Passion of Darkly Noon', one of which, 'Who Will Love Me Now?', was sung by P.J. Harvey and has since been covered by the band Sunscream. Philip has won both the Evening Standard?s Most Promising Newcomer to British Film and Most Promising Playwright Awards. He is the only person ever to receive both prizes.

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Philip Ridley IMDB, which does not include novels or plays

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