Julian Fellowes

Julian Alexander Fellowes, born on 17 August 1949 in Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt, is a multifaceted English actor, novelist, screenwriter, producer and film director who has become one of the most recognizable faces of period drama in contemporary television and cinema. Raised as the youngest of four boys in a family of British landed gentry, his early years were split between South Kensington, the village of Chiddingly in East Sussex, and a stint in Nigeria where his diplomat father managed Shell operations, experiences that later informed his nuanced portrayals of class and empire. Educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge – where he read English Literature and joined the famed Footlights – and the Webber‑Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Fellowes launched his professional career on the stage at the Royal Theatre, Northampton, before moving into West End productions and television roles throughout the 1980s. While continuing to act, he published romantic novels under the pseudonym Rebecca Greville and gradually shifted toward screenwriting, achieving breakthrough acclaim with the 2001 murder‑mystery Gosford Park, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and a Writers Guild of America award. His talent for weaving intricate social hierarchies into compelling narratives culminated in the creation of Downton Abbey (2010‑2015), a series that earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Broadcasting Press Guild award, and a legion of international fans; the franchise later expanded into two successful feature films released in 2019 and 2022. Beyond Downton, Fellowes has contributed to the musical theatre world with books for Mary Poppins and School of Rock, penned screenplays for The Tourist and The Young Victoria, and served as executive producer and writer for the HBO series The Gilded Age (2022‑present), often described as an American counterpart to his earlier work. A Conservative life peer since 2011, he sits in the House of Lords as Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, and he remains active in charitable endeavors ranging from the RNIB to age‑related charities. His personal life includes his marriage to Emma Joy Kitchener in 1990 and their son, Peregrine, reflecting a balance of public achievement and private devotion.