Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, commonly known as Julian Fellowes, (born August 17, 1949 in Cairo, Egypt) was an actor for over twenty years before winning the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay in 2001 for Gosford Park.
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II) and his first wife, Olwen. Fellowes purchased the Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from the previous "Lord of the Manor", making Julian the 4th person to hold it. Fellowes was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Kilwillie in the television series Monarch of the Glen. Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial Our Friends in the North. He has twice notably portrayed HRH the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of The Scarlet Pimpernel and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel Sharpe's Regiment.
His novel Snobs was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class and concerned the marriage of an upper-middle class girl, Edith Lavery - the daughter of an accountant and socially aspiring mother - to Charles, Earl Broughton - the son of the Marquess of Uckfield. Fellowes himself comes from the "bottom end of the gentry", as he has described it, and drew on his inside knowledge of the aristocracy to paint an intricate portrayal of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the name Rebecca Greville.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2005, Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder, which he writes and also introduces on screen. He also penned the script to the current West End musical Mary Poppins, produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006. In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film Separate Lies. He is the presenter of Never Mind the Full Stops, a successful panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
Other screenwriting credits include Vanity Fair.
He regularly writes speeches for members of the Conservative Party.
On 28 April 1990, he married Miss Emma Joy Kitchener (who was at that time a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998. They have a son, Peregrine Kitchener-Fellowes.
Based Dame Maggie Smith's Gosford Park character on his great aunt.
Fellowes proposed to his wife 20 minutes after first meeting her.
Father of Peregrine Kitchener-Fellowes, born 1991.
His ancestors include Sir James Fellowes, Physician to the Forces during the reign of Britain's George III and rear Admiral Sir Thomas Fellowes who served with Lord Nelson.
His wife Emma is lady-in-waiting to Princess Michael of Kent.
Was on University Challenge representing Magdalene College, Cambridge when aged 19. He had a bad bout of 'flu whilst recording the show, having a temperature of 103 degrees, but his mother insisted he should still take part in the programme making.
Wife Emma is a great-great-niece of (General) Lord Kitchener.
In the 1970s, wrote romantic novels under the pseudonym Rebecca Greville.
will conduct a scriptwriting Masterclass at the Cinemagic World Screen Festival for Young People 2002 in Belfast, N.Ireland
Is an avid follower of TV soap "Coronation Street"
Lives in Dorset, England, close to the cottage once owned by writer Thomas Hardy (I)
Wife Emma is a vegetarian
His two dogs are named Meg and Humbug
Uncle of Jessica Fellowes.
Youngest brother of four including David Fellowes and Rory Fellowes.
Was once a member of the Cambridge footlights comedy group. Other members through the years include Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Eric Idle.
