Mike Newell was born in the United Kingdom in 1943. After realising some short films, among them Ready When You Are Mr. Mc Gill (1976), directed is first feature in 1977, con La maschera di ferro (The Man in the Iron Mask), which is followed by La trentanovesima eclisse (The Awakening, 1980), Bad Blood (1981), All'ultimo sangue (Blood Feud, 1983). The success arrives in 1985 with Ballando con uno sconosciuto (Dance with a Stranger). After some features considered as minors as La protesta del silenzio (Amazing Grace and Chuck, 1987), The Good Father. Amore e rabbia (The Good Father, 1987), La legge delle Triadi (Soursweet, 1990) e Un incantevole Aprile (Enchanted April, 1991), in 1992 he had an enormous success with Quattro matrimoni e un funerale (Four Weddings and a Funeral), followed by Un'avventura terribilmente complicata (An Awfully Big Adventure, 1995), Donnie Brasco (Id. 1997) e Pushing Tin (1999).
