Sir-tainly deserving of the title
McQueen, newton-John and more knighted by Queen elizabeth II
LOS ANGELES: That’s Sir Steve, Sir Sam and Dame Olivia, if you please.
Director Sam Mendes, whose World War I film 1917 is causing serious Oscar buzz, is being awarded a knighthood in the latest round of honours handed out by Queen Elizabeth II.
Mendes is being recognised for “services to drama” in the annual New Year’s Honours List.
The knighthood means that Mendes should formally be addressed as “Sir Sam”, following the feudal protocol that still remains part of British pomp and pageantry.
Mendes won an Academy Award in 2000 for his direction of American Beauty. More recently, he helmed the two recent James Bond outings Skyfall and Spectre, both of which were blockbusters at the global box office.
Mendes is also an accomplished theatre director. The Lehman Trilogy and The Ferryman both transferred from London to New York.
Singer Olivia Newton-John was awarded a damehood, the equivalent of a knighthood for women, for her services to charity and cancer research along with her iconic entertainment career.
The Grease star has been active in campaigning for a cure for breast cancer.
Another Oscar winner receiving a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List, which was unveiled on Friday, is director of 12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen whose critically acclaimed work includes the film Shame and most recently the 2018 film Widows. McQueen was recognised for services to film.
Playwright Christopher Hampton, best known for his theatrical adaptation of the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses was also honoured.
He also adapted it into the movie Dangerous Liaisons, starring Glenn Close, which garnered Hampton the
Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in 1989. He was also nominated for best adapted screenplay in 2008 for Atonement, based on the novel by Ian McEwan.
Chairperson of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group Donna Langley received a DBE for her contribution to the film and entertainment industry.
The first British female citizen to lead a major Hollywood studio, Langley oversees all production, marketing and distribution for film and television content across Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation and Focus Features, as well as Universal Pictures International and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Additional honorees include Peaky Blinders writer and executive producer Steven Knight who was also one of the three creators of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? —