DIRECTOR · BORN 1965
Sam Mendes
- Born
- 1 August 1965, Reading, Berkshire, England, UK
- Known for
- The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015), Toast of London (2013), The Oscars (1953), Everything or Nothing (2012)
43 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (43)
- #001
Sam Mendes married English actress Kate Winslet in the West Indies in May 2003.
- #002
His paternal grandparents were from Trinidad's ethnic Portuguese community. His grandfather was the celebrated West Indian writer Alfred H. Mendes.
- #003
His father is Trinidadian.
- #004
He was offered the chance to direct The Avengers (2012) but turned it down.
- #005
He is the first Oscar-winning director to direct a James Bond film. He is also the first director since John Glen to direct two films in the series back to back.
- #006
During the making of Shrek 2 (2004), he suggested the idea of launching "Shrek the Musical" to Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks Animation. He is a big fan of the first "Shrek" film.
- #007
In the 2020 Queen's New Year Honours List he was awarded a Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama. He is a theatre and film director based in WC2H, Greater London, England.
- #008
He was educated at Cambridge University in Cambridge, England.
- #009
At the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards he was nominated for Best Director of the 1997 season for his production of "Othello" at the Royal National Theatre.
- #010
As of 2009, every lead actor in his films has been in a relationship with a film director: Annette Bening (Warren Beatty) in American Beauty (1999), Jennifer Jason Leigh (Noah Baumbach) in Road to Perdition (2002), Maya Rudolph (Paul Thomas Anderson) in Away We Go (2009), and his own wife Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road (2008). The only exception is Jarhead (2005), whose leads are all men.
- #011
Along with Delbert Mann, Jerome Robbins, Robert Redford, James L. Brooks and Kevin Costner, he is one of only six people to have won the Academy Award for Best Director for a directorial debut: Mann for Marty (1955), Robbins for West Side Story (1961) (co-directed with Robert Wise), Redford for Ordinary People (1980), Brooks for Terms of Endearment (1983), Costner for Dances with Wolves (1990) and Mendes for American Beauty (1999).
- #012
He resides in both New York City and London, England.
- #013
He has directed four actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Paul Newman and Michael Shannon. Spacey won for his performance in American Beauty (1999).
- #014
He was honoured at the 1989 London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards (Drama Theatre Award) in the Most Promising Newcomer category as Director of the Minerva Studio in Chichester, England.
- #015
He is one of only six directors to have won the Academy Award for Best Director for a first film.
- #016
He is directing Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy in the Broadway theatre production "The Vertical Hour" in New York.
- #017
At the 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards he won Best Director of 2002 for his productions of "Twelfth Night" and "Uncle Vanya" with the repertory company at the Donmar Warehouse in London.
- #018
Together with his two business partners Pippa Harris (head of the film division) and Caro Newling (head of the theatre division), he announced the new film and theatre production company Scamp. DreamWorks will automatically have first rights on all of Scamp's film projects.
- #019
In March 2010, it was announced that Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet had separated earlier that year.
- #020
Along with his collaborator Rob Marshall, Sam Mendes was nominated for the 1998 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the revival of "Cabaret."
- #021
Sam Mendes is a childhood friend of Tom Hollander.
- #022
In 1996 (for the 1995 season), Sam Mendes won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Director for the Donmar Warehouse productions of "Company" and "The Glass Menagerie."
- #023
Sam Mendes received a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award: Special, for his services and contributions as Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse over the previous decade.
- #024
Sam Mendes won the 2002 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Director (Drama) for the Donmar Warehouse productions of "Uncle Vanya" and "Twelfth Night."
- #025
Sam Mendes describes German director Wim Wenders's film Paris, Texas (1984) as an "untouchable masterpiece."
- #026
Sam Mendes listed his ten favorite films as: The 400 Blows (1959), Blue Velvet (1986), Citizen Kane (1941), Fanny and Alexander (1984), The Godfather Part II (1974), Kes (1969), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Taxi Driver (1976), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Vertigo (1958).
- #027
Sam Mendes was appointed C.B.E. (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to drama.
- #028
After leaving school, Sam Mendes spent a year teaching cricket, his passion, at Summer Fields School in Oxford, England.
- #029
Sam Mendes's son, Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes, was born on 22 December 2003 in New York and weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces.
- #030
Sam Mendes was nominated for Best Director at the 1999 Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards for the 1998 production of "The Blue Room."
- #031
Sam Mendes won the 1995 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre) for Best Director for his production of "The Glass Menagerie."
- #032
Sam Mendes ranked 91st on Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
- #033
In 2000, Sam Mendes won his first Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for his production of "The Real Thing."
- #034
In 1999, Sam Mendes was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play for "Electra."
- #035
Sam Mendes has directed two films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: American Beauty (1999) and 1917 (2019). The former won in that category.
- #036
Sam Mendes won the 2002 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Director for the Donmar Warehouse productions of "Uncle Vanya" and "Twelfth Night."
- #037
Sam Mendes ranked 15th on the Telegraph's 2008 list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture."
- #038
Sam Mendes is directing "Twelfth Night" and "Uncle Vanya" for the Donmar Warehouse Theatre Company at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, with Emily Watson starring.
- #039
Sam Mendes is the grandson of the writer Alfred H. Mendes.
- #040
Sam Mendes is the former brother-in-law of Anna Winslet, Beth Winslet, Joss Winslet and Edmund Harcourt.
- #041
Sam Mendes is the former stepfather of Kate Winslet's daughter Mia.
- #042
Sam Mendes has a house in the Cotswolds region of England.
- #043
Sam Mendes is the former son-in-law of Roger Winslet.
Sources & editorial notes
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