10 September 1968, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Birth Name
Guy Stuart Ritchie
Height
5' 11" (1.80 m)
Mini Biography
Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK in 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was to make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and unwatchable. At 15 years old, he dropped out of school. In 1995, Ritchie got a job as a runner and this proved to be the start of his film career. He quickly progressed and was directing music promos for bands and commercials by 1995. The profits that he made from directing these promos was invested into writing and making the film, The Hard Case (1995), which is a twenty minute short film that is also the prequel to his debut feature Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, saw The Hard Case (1995) and invested into "Lock, Stock..." (2000), which was written and directed by Guy. Once "Lock, Stock..." (2000) was completed, the hard task of getting it distributed then came about with ten British distributors all turning it down before the film eventually got the attention of Tom Cruise. It was distributed by a North American Distributor, Columbia Tristar. The film was made on a budget of £1.6 million and went on to become the third highest grossing British film of all time. "Lock, Stock..." (2000) was followed up by Snatch. (2000), this time with a bigger budget and a few more familiar faces such as Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, Benicio Del Toro and with a couple of stars returning from "Lock, Stock..." (2000) such as Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Jason Flemyng. It was also a success, taking a record £3 million on its first weekend. Guy married Madonna in December of 2000 shortly after their son, Rocco, was born. After Snatch. (2000), Ritchie's next film was another short called Star (2001/I) , which was for BMW cars. This featured his wife Madonna. Swept Away (2002) was another collaboration with his wife for a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller film of the same name. Swept Away (2002) was not received very well by fans and critics alike when released in America and was released direct to video in Guy's home country of the UK. He has already written his next film, Revolver (2005/I), slated for a 2005 release.
Spouse
Madonna | (22 December 2000 - 21 November 2008) (divorced) 2 children |
Trade Mark
Frequently uses narration
Numerous plot threads which intersect and assist in each other's payoffs
Often works with Jason Statham, Mark Strong and Matthew Vaughn
Often casts musicians (Sting, Goldie, Madonna, André Benjamin, Ludacris).
Frequently employs the use of high speed photography in action sequences
Frequent use of humor in violent scenes
Trivia
His first child with Madonna, a son Rocco John, was born by emergency C-section - 3 weeks early. [11 August 2000]
Is dyslexic.
Dropped out of school when he was 15.
During the MTV Movie Awards, Will Smith arrived on a horse to perform the song from Wild Wild West (1999) and the horse accidentally stepped on Guy's foot, injuring him.
Stepmother, Shireen Ritchie, is chairwoman of the ultra-chic Kensington and Chelsea Conservative Association (UK).
Holds a black belt in Judo.
Former brother-in-law of Christopher Ciccone, Martin Ciccone, and Paula Ciccone., Anthony Ciccone, Melanie Ciccone, Mario Ciccone, and Jennifer Ciccone.
Was first introduced to his wife Madonna by Sting & Trudie Styler at their Country Estate. Sting was later made godfather of their first born son Rocco Ritchie.
He and wife Madonna adopted a boy from Malawi, David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie (born September 24th 2005). They filed the adoption papers on October 10, 2006 and the adoption was finalized on May 28, 2008.
Godmother of his son Rocco is Trudie Styler.
Gwyneth Paltrow was the Maid of Honor at his wedding to Madonna.
Matthew Vaughn was Best Man at his wedding to Madonna.
Parents divorced when he was 5 years old.
After months of speculation, he and Madonna announced their separation. [October 2008]
Godfather of his son David is Rupert Everett.
His ex-wife Madonna is ten years older than him.
Former stepfather of Lola Leon.
Father of Rocco Ritchie.
Former son-in-law of Silvio Ciccone.
Robbie Williams' song "She's Madonna" is about him and how he broke up with his former partner to be with Madonna.
Lives with Jacqui Ainsley. They had a son in September 2011.
Personal Quotes
I can understand that the whole world is interested in my wife. That's even why I married her.
We are not that flash, me or the missus. In fact, we are quite low-maintenance.
I am relatively familiar with getting a good old rumping from the critics. In some cases, the critics just didn't like the film - fair cop. Others, I think, didn't understand it.
I'm not politically motivated. I used to be - passionately. I used to be very Left wing. Then I went very Right wing, and now I rest somewhere in the middle.
The English countryside is the most staggeringly beautiful place. I can't spend as much time there as I like, but I like everything about it. I like fishing, I like clay- pigeon shooting. I am not involved in any 'issues' because it's too sensitive for me - or my wife - to get involved. Every time we express an opinion it becomes a whole thing in itself. And the whole purpose of living in the countryside was to get away from hundreds of people. My wife fell off a horse, and suddenly there are hundreds of people around.
I'd like to work with the missus, but there's nothing in the pipeline at the moment.
As I get more and more involved in the child's world with Rocco [his son] I'm getting interested in making a film for children.
Creatively, we like the same sort of things, so it just makes sense to work together. (on working with wife Madonna)
[on claims by Madonna's brother that he's homophobic] You'd be hard pushed to be a homophobe and marry Madonna!
Salary
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) | $7,500,000 |
Sherlock Holmes (2009) | $6,000,000 (back-end for directing, based on worldwide gross of $523 million, and share of DVD and pay-TV revenue) |
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