Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (born May 7, 1927) is an Academy Award winning screenwriter, best known as the writer for Merchant Ivory films.

Related Topics:
May 7 - 1927 - Academy Award - Screenwriter - Merchant Ivory

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She was born Ruth Prawer in Cologne, Germany to a Polish-Jewish father and German-Jewish mother. The family fled the Nazis in 1939, emigrating to Britain. During the war she lived in Hendon in London and experienced the Blitz; she became a British citizen in 1948. After studying English literature at the University of London, in 1951 she married Cyrus S. H. Jhabvala, an (Indian) Parsi architect. The couple moved to New Delhi, India, where they had three daughters, and she began to write novels about her new life there: To Whom She Will (1955), Nature of Passion (1956), Esmond in India (1957), The Householder (1960) and Get Ready for the Battle (1962).

Related Topics:
Cologne, Germany - Polish - Jewish - German - Nazis - 1939 - Britain - The war - Hendon - London - The Blitz - 1948 - University of London - 1951 - Indian - Parsi - New Delhi

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In 1963, she was approached by filmmakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant to write a screenplay of The Householder, which was filmed by Merchant Ivory Productions in 1963 — this began a partnership with them that produced over 20 films. Their next project Shakespeare Wallah (1965) was a critical success, followed by The Guru (1969), Bombay Talkie (1970) and Autobiography of a Princess (1975).

Related Topics:
1963 - James Ivory - Ismail Merchant - Merchant Ivory Productions

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Jhabvala also continued to write novels as well as screenplays: Like Birds, Like Fishes (1963), A Backward Place (1966), A Stronger Climate (1968), An Experience of India (1972), A New Dominion (1972, USA: Travelers). In 1975, she won Britain's prestigious Booker Prize for her novel Heat and Dust. She now shared her time between New York and New Delhi, eventually becoming a US citizen. Her work with Merchant Ivory found greater success in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with films such as A Room with a View (1985), Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990), Howards End (1992) and The Remains of the Day (1993).

Related Topics:
1975 - Booker Prize - New York - A Room with a View - Mr. and Mrs. Bridge - Howards End - The Remains of the Day

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