Career
Bruce Robinson was born in Broadstairs in Kent. In his youth, Robinson aspired to be an actor and was admitted to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. His first film role was as Benvolio in Franco Zeffirelli's film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet (1968). He then appeared in Ken Russell's The Music Lovers (1970), Barney Platts-Mills's Private Road (1971), and François Truffaut's The Story of Adele H. (1975), but eventually became disenchanted with acting after spending several years out of work and living on social security payments and began writing screenplays. He was soon commissioned by David Puttnam to write the screenplay for Roland Joffé's The Killing Fields (1984). Robinson was nominated for an Academy Award and won a BAFTA for his work. In 1989, Robinson wrote again for Joffé on Fat Man and Little Boy. However, he returned to acting briefly in 1998, taking a role in the film Still Crazy.
However, he is perhaps best known as the creative force behind the loosely autobiographical film Withnail and I (1987) which he based his time as a struggling out-of-work actor. The character 'Withnail' is reportedly based on his friend, Vivian MacKerrell, the character 'I' (Marwood), on himself. Though unsuccessful at the box office, due to its success on video it has since been described as "one of Britain's biggest cult films". The film also launched the acting career of Richard E. Grant.
Robinson's next two outings as a director (How to Get Ahead in Advertising, teaming him again with Richard E. Grant, and Jennifer 8, a Hollywood thriller) were not as well received. Robinson became disillusioned with the restrictive film-making practises of Hollywood and stopped directing to concentrate solely on writing. He wrote the screenplays for the films Return to Paradise (1998) and In Dreams (1999), but both were altered drastically by their producers, leaving Robinson once again disappointed.
Robinson eventually returned to directing with an adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's novel The Rum Diary, with the main role performed by Johnny Depp. With Aaron Eckhart and Richard Jenkins also on board, filming started on 25 March 2009 in Puerto Rico. It was released in 2011.
In 2012 Robinson's comic novella Paranoia In The Launderette was substantially filled out and adapted for the screen as A Fantastic Fear of Everything starring Simon Pegg.
Recently, Robinson has completed a screenplay for his novel The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman and a book on Jack the Ripper which has yet to be published.
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