"English Patient" Director Mysteriously Dies

Posted Mar 18th 2008 9:47AM by TMZ Staff

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the director said he suffered a brain hemorrhage at 5 A.M. Tuesday morning at Charing Cross Hospital in London, where he had undergone a routine operation on his neck.

Anthony Minghella, the Oscar-winning director of "The English Patient," "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Cold Mountain" has died. He was 54.

His death was confirmed Tuesday by his agent, but no other details were immediately available.

Minghella was recently in Botswana filming an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." The show was set to air on British television this week.

Filed under: Movies, R.I.P.

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1. Anthony Minghella dead??? cannot believe that,
i ever saw his photos at someone's blog on ___agemingle.c om___ but now he's dead~!
Amen!! :-(

Posted at 10:06AM on Mar 18th 2008 by callmedad

2. So young. So sad.

RIP Anthony.

Posted at 10:10AM on Mar 18th 2008 by Anonymous 4.12.08 Expect us

3. WTF TMZ? Can't you stop the spam sites that try to infect your computers? Can't you block they email verifications? Seriously, these people are annoying, waiting on every story to spread their spam sites. Damn.

Posted at 10:12AM on Mar 18th 2008 by Anonymous 4.12.08 Expect us

4. What an awesome director.........................so very young. You will truly be missed.

God bless.

Posted at 10:29AM on Mar 18th 2008 by Pooh

5. How sad. He's young and I thought his movies were beautifully done. The English Patient was so romantic and introduced me to the amazing Naveen Andrews.

Posted at 10:31AM on Mar 18th 2008 by moi

6. PROBABLY DIED OF BOREDOM WATCHING THE ENGLISH PATIENT!

Posted at 11:00AM on Mar 18th 2008 by Mikey

7. Another AIDS death in Hollyweird!

Posted at 11:20AM on Mar 18th 2008 by ME

8. Mikey, caps lock off, takes a little thought, but I think you can do it.

Posted at 1:00PM on Mar 18th 2008 by ian

9. I knew him for a time while he was living in Berkeley. He was not only a great talent but a truly kind and loving person.
His death was due to complications following surgery for cancer of the tonsils and throat, not AIDS. He was devoted to his wife Carolyn and their two children.

Posted at 1:05PM on Mar 18th 2008 by JCW

10. This just in...Heather Mills has accepted his proposal

Posted at 2:07PM on Mar 18th 2008 by hanjobsolo

11. This talent got some wonderful performances out of his actors (Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon in "Mr. Ripley" and Renee Z. in "Cold Mountain," as well as the cast of "The English Patient"). I had only just read this week about the Botswanan detective series he was adapting that was scheduled to air in the U.K. this week, according to timesonline.

Bravo for a life and career that celebrated art. You will be sorely missed. God bless you and your family.

Posted at 2:30PM on Mar 18th 2008 by Carolyn (Abernathy)

12. mr mingella, you will be missed, TRUELY, MADLY, DEEPLY... MAY YOU REST IN ETERNAL PEACE...

Posted at 3:57PM on Mar 18th 2008 by noyankhere

13. Uh, anyone at TMZ actually read their stuff before it goes on the site?
"...but no other details were not immediately available."

So that must mean some details were immediately available, right. No wait. All the details were available. No wait. Cripes. No details....not available,....
If this is the best writing you can do I need to apply for a job at TMZ

Posted at 11:06PM on Mar 18th 2008 by ProofReader

14. So sad

Posted at 3:52PM on Apr 5th 2008 by fox

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