Born and raised in Leicester, England during WWII, Stephen Frears had few aspirations of being a film and television director. Instead, he studied law at the University of Cambridge before working in theatre. A chance meeting with Lindsay Anderson lead to a job as an assistant to Anderson, Karel Reisz and Albert Finney at the Royal Court Theatre. Fears then transitioned to film as an assistant director on Reisz’s Morgan! (1966), Albert Finney’s Charlie Bubbles (1967) and Anderson’s If… (1968). Soon after, he made his directorial debut with a short, The Burning (1968), followed by a documentary short, St. Ann’s (1969). His feature directorial debut came in 1971 courtesy of Neville Smith, who wrote Gumshoe for him. Instead of continuing in feature films, Frears worked for the BBC drama department for the next decade.
Frears returned to feature films with The Hit in 1984, followed by his career breakthrough, My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). He has since directed Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), The Grifters (1990), High Fidelity (2000), Dirty Pretty Things (2002), Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005), The Queen (2006), Philomena (2013) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016). He’s also continued his work in television, directing Fail Safe (2000), The Deal (2003), Skip Tracer (2008) and Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight (2013).
For his extensive work in film and television, Frears has received numerous accolades, including three DGA Award nominations, a Golden Globe nomination, two Academy Awards nominations, two Primetime Emmys nominations, and 11 BAFTA Awards nominations. He has been a member of the Guild since 1991.