Filmmaker Roger Michell, director of the
Notting Hill
romantic comedy
Coup de Foudre
, died on Wednesday at the age of 65, his family announced on Thursday.
"It is with great sadness that the family of Roger Michell, director, author and father of Harry, Rosie, Maggie and Sparrow, announces his death at the age of 65 on September 22,"
according to a statement from his agent.
The causes of his death have not been disclosed.
Son of a diplomat, Roger Michell was born on June 5, 1956 in South Africa, and lived as a child in Beirut, Damascus and Prague, before returning to the United Kingdom.
He began his career in theater and television, where he directed series and television films.
Roger Michell went to the cinema in 1996 by bringing to the screen the play
My Night With Reg
.
But it was in 1999 that he won consecration with the romantic comedy
Coup de Foudre in Notting Hill
, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
Having become a classic of the genre, the film written by Richard Curtis traces the love story of a Hollywood star and a London bookseller.
In 2002, he directed
Uncontrolled Dérapages
, with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson.
And in 2017
My Cousin Rachel
, with Sam Claflin and Rachel Weisz.
In early September, he promoted
The Duke
at the Telluride Film Festival.
The film, due for release at the end of the year, tells the story of the theft of a Goya painting by a taxi driver in London in the 1960s. He was married to actress Kate Buffery, with whom he had two children, then with the actress Anna Maxwell Martin, with whom he also had two children before their separation.
