Oscar winner Minghella dies at 54

Oscar-winning film director Anthony Minghella has died at the age of 54, his publicist said.

The British director is best known for The English Patient, Truly Madly Deeply and Cold Mountain. A woman at the family home in Ryde on the Isle of Wight said they were too upset to comment when contacted.

One of five children, Minghella grew up above the family's ice-cream shop on the Isle of Wight, where the family still live and run a successful chain of shops. A worker at one of the shops said the news of Minghella's death was "really raw" for all those who knew him and his family.

Jude Law, who worked with Minghella on The Talented Mr Ripley, Cold Mountain and Breaking And Entering, said he would miss the director "hugely".

He said: "I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Anthony's untimely death. I worked with him on three films, more than with any other director, but had come to value him more as a friend than as a colleague.

"He made work feel like fun. He was a sweet, warm, bright and funny man who was interested in everything from football to opera, films, music, literature, people and, most of all, his family whom he adored and to whom I send my thoughts and love. I shall miss him hugely."

Fellow film director Lord Puttnam said the death was a "shattering blow" to the industry. "He's going to be hugely missed. This is a shattering blow from someone who was a major figure in an important industry and had a lot to go on and contribute," he said.

Sky News north of England correspondent Gerard Tubb, who was taught by Minghella at Hull University in the 1980s, paid tribute. He said: "Anthony Minghella will be remembered as one of the greats of English cinema and theatre, in its wider sense of drama. He will be remembered as someone who was a great, someone who put English cinema back on the agenda."

Former prime minister Tony Blair said Minghella, who directed him in a party election broadcast for Labour, was a "wonderful human being".

"I am really shocked and very sad. Anthony Minghella was a wonderful human being, creative and brilliant, but still humble, gentle and a joy to be with. Whatever I did with him, personally or professionally, left me with complete admiration for him, as a character and as an artist of the highest calibre."

Via ukpress