Stephen Frears

Biography

Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is an English director and producer. He has directed numerous acclaimed films since the early 1980s, including My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), The Grifters (1990), High Fidelity (2000), The Queen (2006), Philomena (2013), Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), and Victoria & Abdul (2017). He has received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director. Frears is also known for his work on various television programs, including Fail Safe (2000), The Deal (2003), Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013), A Very English Scandal (2018), State of the Union (2019), and Quiz (2020). He has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations, with one win. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture.

Known For

Omnibus

Kulturplatz

Great British Menu

Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties

Chéri

Reel Britannia

Back to Barrytown

100 Greatest Sexy Moments

All Movies (41)

• Angela Allen: The Woman Who Saw Everything2026
• Innes Lloyd: The Producer2025 · as Self (archive footage)
• Alec Guinness: A Class Act2024 · as self
• A Look Through His Lens2024 · as Self
• The Rise of the Comic Strip2023 · as Self
• Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel2022 · as Self
• In The Tracks Of - Alexandre Desplat2020 · as Self
• Revisiting The Man in the White Suit2019
• Memories of Lindsay Anderson2019 · as Self
• Who Killed British Cinema?2018 · as Self
• Seduction. Betrayal. Murder: The Making of The Grifters2018
• She's French2018
• Il était une fois... « The Queen »2017 · as Self
• Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light2016 · as Self
• Reflecting on My Beautiful Laundrette: A Conversation between Stephen Frears and Colin MacCabe2015
• French Cinema Mon Amour2015 · as Self
• Henri Langlois vu par...2014 · as Self
• 30 Years of Comic Strip2012
• My Friend Sam: Living for the Moment2012
• Hans Zimmer: The Sound of Hollywood2011 · as Self
• Heavy Rain2010 · as Himself
• Once Upon a Time... 'Notorious'2009 · as Self
• Great Directors2009 · as Self
• Chéri2009 · as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
• Here’s Looking at You, Boy2007 · as Self
• The Making of 'The Queen'2007 · as Self
• Michael Powell2005
• Lindsay Anderson: Lucky Man?2004 · as Self (Archival)
• Cast & Crew: If....2004 · as Self - Interviewee
• 100 Greatest Sexy Moments2003 · as Self
• Forever Ealing2002 · as Self
• Robert Altman in England2002 · as Self
• All About Desire: The Passionate Cinema of Pedro Almodovar2001 · as Narrator
• Alan Clarke: His Own Man2000 · as Self
• Howard Hawks: American Artist1997 · as Narrator
• Typically British: A Personal History of British Cinema1995
• Director: Alan Clarke1991
• Hooray For Holyrood1986 · as Self
• Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman1985 · as Self
• Long Shot1978 · as Biscuit Man
• Incident1971 · as Man

All TV Shows (6)

• Reel Britannia2022 · as Self
• Back to Barrytown2021 · as Self
• Great British Menu2006 · as Self - Guest Judge
• Kulturplatz2004 · as Self
• Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties1993 · as Self
• Omnibus1967