"I love Manchester. I come here very often. I was born here and I have family here. My mother lives here and when I was growing up here it was an age where Victoriana was all around." - Mike Leigh

Born on the 20th February, 1943 in Salford, director Mike Leigh had a Jewish upbringing, although he now claims to be an atheist.

Before shooting to fame in 1971 with his brilliant debut film 'Bleak Moments', which won the Grand Prix at both the Locarno and Chicago Film Festivals, Mike had directed the 1965 stage play, 'Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against The Eunuchs'. Indeed, it was in the theatre that Mike crafted his trade, writing the 1965 plays 'Waste Paper Guards' and 'The Box Play'.

With differing success, Mike also directed the plays 'My Parents Have Gone To Carlisle / The Last Crusade of the Five Little Nuns' (1966), 'Neena' (1967), 'Individual Fruit Pies', 'Down Here And Up There', 'Big Basil', 'Glum Victoria and The Lad with Specs' (all 1968) and 'Epilogue' (1969).

In 1970 his play, 'Bleak Moments', won rave reviews and very quickly Mike found himself recreating the story as a cinematic film. The reaction was phenomenal and Mike soon found himself moving into television, directing "A Mug's Game" ('72) and 'Hard Labour' ('73).

Returning to theatre, Mike directed the stage plays, 'A Rancid Pong' (1971), 'Wholesome Glory', 'The Jaws Of Death' and 'Dick Whittington and His Cat' (all 1973). In 1974 he directed the stage play 'The Silent Majority' before his 'Babies Grow Old' play was performed by the RSC.

Venturing further into television, his films 'Permissive Society' ('75), 'Nuts In May' ('76), 'Knock For Knock' ('76), 'The Kiss Of Death' ('77), 'Abigail's Party' ('77), and 'Who's Who' ('78) won him massive praise as did his 1979 Hampstead Theatre play 'Ecstacy'.

The television films, 'Grown-Ups' (1980), 'Meantime' ('81), 'Home Sweet Home' and 'The Five Minute Films' (both '82) followed as did the Hampstead and Garrick Theatre productions of 'Goose-Pimples'.

Mike directed both 'Four Days In July' (1984) and 'The Short And Curlies' ('87) for television whilst also enjoying success with his plays 'Smelling A Rat' ('88) and 'Greek Tragedy' ('89), however it was on a larger scale that Mike needed to express his talent.

In 1988, Mike directed a funny yet touching movie that indicated he had not lost touch with his Salford routes. 'High Hopes' was a cinematic reaction to Margaret Thatcher's overhaul of British society and despite the film's hilarious, silly moments Mike was able to deliver a realistic and poignant message.

In 1990, Mike directed his unsettling but sweet-tempered 'Life Is Sweet' movie, which starred his wife, Alison Steadman (famed for her portrayal of Beverly in his 'Abigail's Party') and Manchester actress Jane Horrocks.

'Two Mikes Don't Make a Wright', and 'A Sense of History' saw Mike return to television work before venturing on what was his most successful year to date.

1993 brought Mike Leigh the kind of success he could only have dreamed of as a young Mancunian child. His Stratford-upon-Avon stage play, 'It's A Great Big Shame', was performed in the same year that he was given the O.B.E., just one of many coveted awards he was to collect that year.

The sad black comedy, 'Naked', saw Mike Leigh crowned as 'The Best Director' at the Cannes Film Festival, whilst David Thewlis won a whole raft of awards both at Cannes and also in Hollywood for his performance of Johnny, a witty and intelligent loveable rogue. The film opens during a violent sexual encounter in a Manchester back-alley before Johnny steals a car and flees to London.

In 1996, Mike returned with the truely fascinating 'Secrets & Lies', which won the 'Palme d'Or' (The Best Film) at Cannes. As with all his films, the audience relate to the characters in the movie as if they have known them for years. The long-take of Brenda Blethyn (Cynthia) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hortense) in 'Secrets & Lies' proves that Mike Leigh's unique filming technique is just astounding.

Playing a strong role as a white mother re-united with the black daughter she placed for adoption as a child, Blethyn won the 'Best Actress Award' at Cannes. The film was nominated for five Oscars and won three BAFTAs - a real testament to the Mancunian director.

With his 1997 film 'Career Girls', Mike continues with his somewhat sentimental but strong characterization approach. Starring his wife, Lynda Steadman (as Annie), and Katrin Cartlidge (Hannah), the movie blends comedy and drama whilst following the two characters as they reunite on a train, six years after graduating from university together. The film lacked the big production figures of both his previous film and the blockbuster which was to follow:

In 'Topsy Turvy', his latest movie, Mike Leigh follows a year in the life of the celebrated comic opera partnership Gilbert and Sullivan, painting a wonderfully warm-hearted picture of life in the Victorian theatre. True to style, the brilliant director takes a close look at the individual characters that make the movie the hugely enjoyable cinematic masterpiece that it is.

'Topsy Turvey' has already won the 'Best Picture' and 'Best Director' awards at both the Venice and New York Film Festivals, and has also been nominated for four Oscars including 'Best Art Direction' and 'Best Original Screenplay' (the others two being 'Best Costume Design' and 'Best Make-Up').

Mike's unique way of working with his actors is famed throughout the cinema world. Extensive one-to-ones and hours of improvisation allow him to structure the script during filming. Maveric or genius? Mike Leigh certainly does things differently!

Whilst his films are not to everyone's tastes, Mike Leigh's films have been hailed as a kind of "neo-Marxist Dickens", chronicling the ups and downs of British working-class life. You can take Mike Leigh out of Manchester but you will never take Manchester out of Mike Leigh!

Bleak Moments
(Mike's debut film already contains the seeds of his later acclaimed movies. A spinster, a schoolteacher and a would-be pop star from Scunthorpe are just some of his brilliantly conceived characters, living lives of desperation and absurdity. Beneath the acid wit, there is also sympathy and a disturbing vision of Britain’s repressive society)