Julian Fellowes

Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes is a British screenwriter, novelist, actor and director, born in Cairo on 17 August 1949. He won an Oscar for his screenplay for Gosford Park and reached a wide audience as the creator of the Downton Abbey series. He has held the title of Baron Fellowes of West Stafford since 2011.

From acting to script

Fellowes studied at Ampleforth College, then studied English literature at Magdalene College of the University of Cambridge, and performed in the Footlights troupe during his student years. He later studied acting at Webber Douglas Academy. He worked as a character actor on British television for many years; His role as Kilwillie in Monarch of the Glen and the Prince Regent in Sharpe productions are among the well-known works of this period.

He made his real breakthrough as a writer. Gosford Park (2001), directed by Robert Altman, was his first screenplay and earned him the Academy Award for best original screenplay. He then stepped into directing with Separate Lies (2005), and in 2009 he directed From Time to Time; In the same year, he wrote the script for The Young Victoria.

Downton Abbey and beyond

He created, wrote and produced Downton Abbey, which aired on ITV from 2010–2015. The series received international attention and earned Fellowes an Emmy for writing. He brought a similar period drama to New York with The Gilded Age, which he launched for HBO in 2022.

He has also been productive on stage and in literature: he wrote the scripts for the musicals Mary Poppins (2004) and School of Rock (2015); He published the novels Snobs (2004), Past Imperfect (2008) and Belgravia (2016). In January 2011, he was granted a life peerage and a Conservative member of the House of Lords.