Guy Ritchie Biography

Filmmaker Guy Ritchie is known for his modern take on British gangster movies and for being married to pop star Madonna. Ritchie got his start behind the camera in the mid-1990s, making promotional music videos and television commercials. His 1995 short The Hard Case — and a script for a feature film based on it — convinced a handful of wealthy investors (including Trudie Styler, Sting‘s wife) to finance his first movie. Ritchie made Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels (1998) on a small budget with mostly unknown actors; it became a box office hit and he was suddenly being compared to Quentin Tarantino. He was also making news as Madonna’s boyfriend and father to her son, Rocco (b. 11 August 2000). Ritchie and Madonna married in December of 2000 and settled in England, much to the delight of the British gossip sheets, who report regularly on their doings. His next movie, Snatch (2000), had major studio backing and big-name stars like Brad Pitt and Benicio Del Toro. It performed well at the box office and furthered Ritchie’s reputation as an exciting writer/director. He then worked with his wife on three projects: a music video (“What It Feels Like for a Girl”), a short film for BMW (“Star,” with Clive Owen) and a poorly-received remake of the 1974 film Swept Away (2002). In 2005 he finished Revolver, a crime thriller starring Ray Liotta and Andre Benjamin (Andre 3000 of the hip-hop band Outkast). He followed with the cash-frenzy action comedy RocknRolla (2008).