Another Talent Gone

Screenwriter, opera director and the Oscar-winning filmmaker of ”The English Patient” Anthony Minghella died in London on March 18 of a hemorrhage subsequent to an operation the previous week to remove cancer of the tonsils and neck. He was 54 years old.

Minghella had been in Botswana recently filming an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith's novel "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency," which was recently broadcast by the BBC. But Minghella, who began his career as a writer, confessed he was not sure of his place as a director.

"I am a writer who was able to direct the films that I write," he said recently. "It is a naked thing to admit, but I feel very strongly that I want people to appreciate that I am not just a flash in the pan."

Minghella also turned his talents to opera. In 2005, he directed a highly successful staging of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" at the English National Opera in London — choreographed by Minghella's wife, Carolyn Choa. The following year, he staged it as the season opener of New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Minghella’s other films include: ”Cold Mountain,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and ”Truly, Madly, Deeply”.