1. Sir Ridley Scott was born on 30 November 1937 and is an English film director and producer.
66 Facts About Ridley Scott
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Ridley Scott directs films in the science fiction, crime, and historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style.
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Ridley Scott has received many accolades, including the BAFTA Fellowship for Lifetime Achievement in 2018, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award.
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Ridley Scott was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003, and appointed a Knight Grand Cross by King Charles III in 2024.
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An alumnus of the Royal College of Art in London, Scott began his career in television as a designer and director before moving into advertising as a director of commercials.
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Ridley Scott made his film directorial debut with The Duellists and gained wider recognition with his next film, Alien.
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Ridley Scott was Emmy-nominated for RKO 281, The Andromeda Strain, and The Pillars of the Earth.
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Ridley Scott laid down the law and the law was God.
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Ridley Scott was born on 30 November 1937 in South Shields, to Francis Percy Ridley Scott, a partner in a commercial shipping business based in Newcastle who would serve as a Colonel in the Royal Engineers during the Second World War, and Elizabeth, nee Williams, a miner's daughter.
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Ridley Scott's grand-uncle Dixon Scott was a pioneer of the cinema chain and opened many cinemas around Tyneside.
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Ridley Scott went on to study at the Royal College of Art in London, contributing to the college magazine ARK and helping to establish the college film department.
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In February 1963, Ridley Scott was named in the title credits as "Designer" for the BBC television programme Tonight.
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Ridley Scott was originally assigned to design the second Doctor Who serial, The Daleks, which would have entailed realising the serial's eponymous alien creatures.
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Five members of the Ridley Scott family are directors, and all have worked for RSA.
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Ridley Scott's brother Tony was a successful film director whose career spanned more than two decades; his sons Jake and Luke are both acclaimed directors of commercials, as is his daughter, Jordan Scott.
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Ridley Scott had originally planned next to adapt a version of Tristan and Iseult, but after seeing Star Wars, he became convinced of the potential of large scale, effects-driven films.
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Ridley Scott made the decision to switch Ellen Ripley from the standard male action hero to a heroine.
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Ridley Scott was involved in the 2003 restoration and re-release of the original film.
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In promotional interviews at the time, Ridley Scott indicated he had been in discussions to make a fifth film in the Alien franchise.
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However, in a 2006 interview, Ridley Scott remarked that he had been unhappy about Alien: The Director's Cut, feeling that the original was "pretty flawless" and that the additions were merely a marketing tool.
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Ridley Scott later returned to Alien-related projects when he directed Prometheus and Alien: Covenant three decades after the original film's release.
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Ridley Scott doesn't seem to have a grasp of how to use words as part of the way a movie moves.
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Later Ridley Scott personally supervised a digital restoration of Blade Runner and approved what was called The Final Cut.
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In 1985, Ridley Scott directed Legend, a fantasy film produced by Arnon Milchan.
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Ridley Scott decided to create a "once upon a time" tale set in a world of princesses, unicorns and goblins, filming almost entirely inside the studio.
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Ridley Scott cast Tom Cruise as the film's hero, Jack; Mia Sara as Princess Lili; and Tim Curry as the Satan-horned Lord of Darkness.
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Ridley Scott had a forest set built on the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, with trees 60 feet high and trunks 30 feet in diameter.
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Ridley Scott made Someone to Watch Over Me, a romantic thriller starring Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in 1987, and Black Rain, a police drama starring Michael Douglas and Andy Garcia, shot partially in Japan.
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In 1984, Ridley Scott directed a big-budget television commercial, "1984", to launch Apple Computer's Macintosh computer.
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Ridley Scott filmed the advertisement in England for about $370,000; which was given a showcase airing in the US on 22 January 1984, during Super Bowl XVIII, alongside screenings in cinemas.
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Ridley Scott's next project, independently funded historical epic 1492: Conquest of Paradise, was a box office failure.
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Ridley Scott directed Hannibal starring Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter.
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In 2003, Ridley Scott directed a smaller scale project, Matchstick Men, adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and starring Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell and Alison Lohman.
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Unhappy with the theatrical version of Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott supervised a director's cut of the film, the true version of what he wanted, which was released on DVD in 2006.
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Ridley Scott took over the project in early 2006 and had screenwriter Steven Zaillian rewrite his script to focus on the dynamic between Frank Lucas and Richie Roberts.
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The film premiered in November 2007 to positive reviews and box office success, and Ridley Scott was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director.
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Ridley Scott directed a revisionist adaptation of Robin Hood, which starred Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian.
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On 31 July 2009, news surfaced of a two-part prequel to Alien with Ridley Scott attached to direct.
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The project, ultimately reduced to a single film called Prometheus, which Ridley Scott described as sharing "strands of Alien's DNA" while not being a direct prequel, was released in June 2012.
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In 2012, Ridley Scott produced the commercial for Lady Gaga's fragrance, "Fame".
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Ridley Scott directed The Counselor, with a screenplay by author Cormac McCarthy.
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In May 2014, Ridley Scott began negotiations to direct The Martian, starring Matt Damon as Mark Watney.
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Ridley Scott informed the Variety publication in November 2014 that he was no longer the director for the film and would only fulfill a producer's role.
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Ridley Scott revealed that filming would begin sometime within 2015, and that Harrison Ford has signed on to reprise his role from the original film but his character should only appear in "the third act" of the sequel.
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On 26 February 2015, the sequel was officially confirmed, with Denis Villeneuve hired to direct the film, and Ridley Scott being an executive producer.
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Ridley Scott directed House of Gucci, a film about the murder of Maurizio Gucci orchestrated by Patrizia Reggiani, who were portrayed by Adam Driver and Lady Gaga, respectively.
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Ridley Scott had originally been set to direct the film in 2006, but the project languished in development hell for several years, with different directors entering talks to sign on, before he returned to the project in November 2019.
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Ridley Scott next directed Napoleon, a biopic of Napoleon Bonaparte starring Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon and Vanessa Kirby as Empress Josephine, the first wife of Napoleon.
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In November that year, Ridley Scott was announced to be directing an adaptation of The Dog Stars, starring Jacob Elordi, with principal photography set to begin in April 2025, in Italy.
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Ridley Scott was an executive producer of the first season of Amazon's The Man in the High Castle.
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Ridley Scott said his "tendency was to think, 'I don't want to go down that road of androids again'", but decided to take on the project after he read the script and liked it.
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Ridley Scott was married to Felicity Heywood from 1964 to 1975.
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Ridley Scott later married advertising executive Sandy Watson in 1979, with whom he had a daughter, Jordan Ridley Scott, a director, and divorced in 1989.
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Ridley Scott has dedicated several of his films in memory of his family: Blade Runner to his brother Frank, Black Hawk Down to his mother, and The Counselor and Exodus: Gods and Kings to his brother Tony.
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Theron worked alongside the writers and Ridley Scott to give more depth to her character during filming.
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Ridley Scott's work is identified for its striking visuals, with heroines a common theme.
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Artificial intelligence is a theme that appears in several of Ridley Scott's films, including Blade Runner, Alien, and Prometheus.
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The 2013 book The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott identifies pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing and the philosopher John Searle as presenting relevant models of testing artificial intelligence known as the Turing test and the Chinese Room Thought Experiment, respectively, in the chapter titled "What's Wrong with Building Replicants", which has been a recurring theme for many of Scott's films.
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Ridley Scott provides audio commentaries and interviews for all his films where possible.
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The positive reaction to the Blade Runner Director's Cut encouraged Ridley Scott to re-cut several movies that were a disappointment at the time of their release, which have been met with acclaim.
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Ridley Scott was knighted in the 2003 New Year Honours for services to the British film industry.
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Ridley Scott received his accolade from Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 8 July 2003.
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Ridley Scott was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007.
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Ridley Scott has received three Hugo Awards in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation for Alien, Blade Runner and The Martian.
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In 2012, Ridley Scott was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork, the Beatles' Sgt.
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Belgian bike manufacturing company Ridley Bikes is named in honour of Scott.