Sam Mendes

Samuel Alexander Mendes (born August 1, 1965) is a British stage and film director born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Although English by birth, he is the son of a Portuguese Catholic father and a Jewish mother was born in England. His father, Peter, is the son of the writer Alfred Mendes, author of the novels Black Fauns and Pitch Lake, and part of the group around CLR James and Albert Gomes which produced the Beacon literary magazine in the early 1930s. His secondary education was at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and he later attended the University of Cambridge. As a stage director, he is probably best known for his 1998 production of Cabaret, starring Alan Cumming.

Stage

• Won a Critics Circle Award for Best Newcomer after directing Judi Dench in The Cherry Orchard.
• 1990: Began directing for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• 1992: became artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre
• 1994: directed revival of Oliver! (with score specially revised and added to by the original composer and lyricist, Lionel Bart) at the London Palladium; the show ran for four years, becoming, on July 8 1997, the longest-running show at that venue.
• 1994: directed revival of Cabaret
• 1998: revival of Cabaret opens on Broadway; wins four Tony Awards, including Best Musical (Revival)
• 1998: directed David Hare's The Blue Room, starring Nicole Kidman (and Iain Glen).