James Dearden

James Dearden is a British screenwriter and film director whose career has spanned over five decades, beginning in the late 1960s and continuing into the present day. Born on 14 September 1949 in London, England, he was immersed in the cinematic world from an early age as the son of noted actress Melissa Stribling and acclaimed director Basil Dearden, giving him a unique insight into both performance and storytelling. Dearden first emerged behind the camera with The Contraption in 1977, quickly establishing a reputation for crafting tense, character‑driven narratives, a talent that was further honed with the psychological thriller The Cold Room in 1984. His most celebrated achievement came when he adapted his own 1980 television film Diversion into the screenplay for the 1987 blockbuster Fatal Attraction, a work that earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and cemented his status as a master of modern thriller writing. Beyond Fatal Attraction, Dearden directed Pascali's Island (1988), which was entered into the Cannes Film Festival, and later tackled adaptations such as A Kiss Before Dying (1991) and Rogue Trader (1999), showcasing his versatility across genres. In the 2010s he returned to his theatrical roots, contributing to stage productions of Fatal Attraction in 2014, while also co‑writing episodes for the 2023 television series adaptation of the same story. Throughout his extensive filmography, Dearden has consistently explored themes of obsession, morality, and the darker facets of human desire, earning him a lasting legacy in both British and international cinema. His personal life reflects his artistic milieu; after a marriage to Jenny Dearden that lasted from 1974 to 1991, he later married actress Annabel Brooks, with whom he remains partnered, and together they have built a private family life away from the public eye.