MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA APRIL 10 , 2013 01.10 A.M.
7 May 1927 – 3 April 2013
She was a German-born British and American Booker prize-winning novelist, short story writer and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala wrote a dozen novels, 23 screenplays and eight collections of short stories . She was made a CBE in 1998 . She is the only person to ever have won both a Booker Prize and an Oscar.
She mainly wrote screenplay for Merchant Ivory Productions . In 1963, Jhabvala was approached by James Ivory and Ismail Merchant to write a screenplay for their debut film ” The Householder ” based on her 1960 novel. The movie, released by Merchant Ivory Productions in 1963 and starring Shashi Kapoor and Leela Naidu met with critical praise and it marked the beginning of a partnership that resulted in over 20 films.
The Householder was followed by Shakespeare Wallah (1965) , Roseland (1977) , Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures (1978) , The Europeans (1979) , Jane Austen in Manhattan (1980) , Quartet (1981) , The Courtesans of Bombay (1983) , Heat and Dust in (1983 ) , The Bostonians (1984) , Madame Sousatzka (1988) , Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990) , Jefferson in Paris (1995) , Surviving Picasso (1996) , A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries (1998) , the screenplay for which she co-authored with Ivory, The Golden Bowl (2000) and The City of Your Final Destination (2009) which was adapted from the eponymous novel by Peter Cameron and was her last screenplay.Le Divorce which she co-wrote with Ivory was the last movie that featured the trio of Merchant, Ivory and Jhabvala before Merchant’s death that year.
She won her first Academy Award for her screenplay for A Room with a View (1986) and won a second in the same category for Howards End (1992) . She was nominated for a third Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay the following year for The Remains of the Day (1993) .
Selected screenplays
Year | Title | Other notes |
---|---|---|
2008 | The City of Your Final Destination | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Peter Cameron |
2003 | Le Divorce | co-written by James Ivory, adapted from the novel by Diane Johnson |
2000 | The Golden Bowl | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Henry James |
1998 | A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Kaylie Jones |
1996 | Surviving Picasso | screenplay |
1995 | Jefferson in Paris | written by |
1993 | The Remains of the Day | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro |
1992 | Howards End | screenplay, adapted from the novel by E. M. Forster |
1990 | Mr. and Mrs. Bridge | screenplay, adapted from the novels by Evan S. Connell (“Mr. Bridge” & “Mrs. Bridge”) |
1988 | Madame Sousatzka | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Bernice Rubens. Directed by John Schlesinger |
1985 | A Room with a View | screenplay, adapted from the novel by E. M. Forster |
1984 | The Bostonians | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Henry James |
1983 | Heat and Dust | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Jhabvala |
1981 | Quartet | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Jean Rhys |
1980 | Jane Austen in Manhattan | written by, inserted libretto “Sir Charles Grandison” by Jane Austen |
1979 | The Europeans | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Henry James |
1978 | Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures | written by |
1977 | Roseland | story and screenplay |
1975 | Autobiography of a Princess | written by |
1972 | Bombay Talkie | screenplay |
1969 | The Guru | screenplay |
1965 | Shakespeare Wallah | screenplay |
1963 | The Householder | screenplay, adapted from the novel by Jhabvala |
This two-time Oscar winner for her screenplays will also be remembered for her unforgettable novels and short stories like :
Novels and short stories
- To Whom She Will (1955; published in the United States as Amrita)
- The Nature of Passion (1956).
- Esmond in India (1958)
- The Householder (1960)
- Get Ready for Battle (1962)
- Like Birds, Like Fishes (1963)
- A Backward Place (1965)
- A Stronger Climate (1968)
- An Experience of India (1971)
- A New Dominion (1972; published in the United States as Travelers)
- Heat and Dust (1975)
- How I Became a Holy Mother and other stories (1976),
- In Search of Love and Beauty (1983)
- Out of India (1986)
- Three Continents (1987)
- Poet and Dancer (1993)
- Shards of Memory (1995)
- East Into Upper East: Plain Tales from New York and New Delhi (1998)
- My Nine Lives (2004)
She will be missed . I saw her film ” The Householder ” in Palace talkies of Allahabad and was moved that two Indian actors ; Shashi Kapoor and Leela Naidu , played the main protagonists in the film , which she wrote . Though at that time I didn’t know that the writer of the film is Ruth Prawer Jhabvala .
On behalf of all the students and staff of my acting institute Vidur’s Kreating Charakters , I offer my condolences . May her soul rest in peace !
[ I have taken the list of her films and name of the novels and short stories written by her from Wikipedia . Certain other facts and data is also taken from Wikipedia . As I always do , I express my profound gratitude . ]
VIDUR
MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA
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Related articles
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, 1927 – 2013 (theparisreview.org)
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Award-Winning Novelist And Screenwriter, Dies (npr.org)
- Oscar Winner Dies: ‘Howards End’ Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Has Died (contactmusic.com)
- ‘Room With a View’ Screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala Dies at 85 (variety.com)
- Oscar winner, author Ruth Prawer Jhabvala dies (miamiherald.com)
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Merchant Ivory’s secret weapon, dead at 85 (timesunion.com)
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s Stories (newyorker.com)
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, award-winning author and screenwriter, dies at 85 (latimes.com)
- Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Oscar-winning screenwriter and award-winning author, dies at 85 (vancouversun.com)
- Oscar-winning screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala dies at 85 (panarmenian.net)
Filed under: Obituary | Tagged: A Backward Place, A New Dominion, A Room with a View, A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, A Stronger Climate, Academy Award, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, An Experience of India, Bombay Talkie, Booker Prize, Bridge, CBE, City of Your Final Destination, Diction Trainer, Esmond in India, Film, Get Ready for Battle, Heat and Dust, Hindi Teacher, Howards End, Hullaballoo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures, In Search of Love and Beauty, Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, Jane Austen in Manhattan, Jefferson in Paris, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Le Divorce, Leela Naidu, Like Birds Like Fishes, Madame Sousatzka, Maharashtra, Merchant Ivory Productions, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, My Nine Lives, Obituary, Order of the British Empire, Out Of India, Palace Talkies Allahabad, Poet and Dancer, Quartet, Roseland, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Shakespeare Wallah, Shards of Memory, Shashi Kapoor, Surviving Picasso, The Bostonians, The City of Your Final Destination, The Courtesans of Bombay, The Europeans, The Golden Bowl, The Guru, The Householder, The Nature of Passion, The Remains of the Day, Three Continent, To Whom She Will, Vidur, Vidur Chaturvedi, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Kreating Charakters, Vidur's Students |
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