---
name: "Ronald Harwood"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ronald-harwood"
fi1m_id: "ronald-harwood"
imdb_id: "nm0367838"
tmdb_id: 3558
wikidata_id: "Q706668"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "9 November 1934"
died: "8 September 2020"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-03T08:18:08.391600+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ronald Harwood

## Identity

Ronald Harwood

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ronald-harwood
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ronald-harwood
- **IMDb ID:** nm0367838
- **TMDB ID:** 3558
- **Wikidata ID:** Q706668
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Harwood, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q706668, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0367838/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3558

Writer. Born 9 November 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa. Died 8 September 2020.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 9 November 1934, Cape Town, South Africa
- **Died:** 8 September 2020
- **Active:** 1983–2008
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as writer, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 80 (1), 2000s 77 (3)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 77 to 70 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 0 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Adventure 1, History 1, Romance 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 9 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $352m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Harwood, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q706668, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0367838/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3558

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Pianist*](https://film.one/film/the-pianist.md) (87)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Ronald Harwood was a South African-born British playwright and screenwriter. Born Ronald Horwitz in Cape Town on 9 November 1934, he moved to England in 1951 and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He later anglicised his surname and began writing in the early 1960s after working in theatre.

He adapted several of his own stage plays for the screen, including *The Dresser* (1983). Harwood wrote the screenplay for Roman Polanski’s *The Pianist* (2002), for which he received the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2003. Other screenplays include *The Diving Bell and the Butterfly* (2007), *Oliver Twist* (2005), *Being Julia* (2004) and *Australia* (2008).

Harwood died on 8 September 2020.

*Sources: hollywoodreporter.com, variety.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

- *Australia* (2008), Fi1m 58, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/australia.md)
- *The Diving Bell and the Butterfly* (2007), Fi1m 87, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly.md)
- *The Pianist* (2002), Fi1m 87, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/the-pianist.md)
- *The Dresser* (1983), Fi1m 80, Producer, Screenplay, Theatre Play — [page](https://film.one/film/the-dresser.md)

## Complete filmography (34)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Faraway Downs* (2023), series, Screenplay
- *Investigating The Ladykillers* (2020), Actor
- *The Dresser* (2015), Writer
- *Quartet* (2012), Theatre Play, Screenplay
- *Australia* (2008), Screenplay — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/australia.md)
- *Love in the Time of Cholera* (2007), Screenplay
- *The Diving Bell and the Butterfly* (2007), Screenplay — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/the-diving-bell-and-the-butterfly.md)
- *Kidding with Oliver Twist: Barney Clark's Diary* (2006), Original Film Writer
- *Oliver Twist* (2005), Screenplay
- *Being Julia* (2004), Screenplay
- *The Statement* (2003), Writer
- *The Pianist* (2002), Screenplay — Fi1m 87, [page](https://film.one/film/the-pianist.md)
- *Taking Sides* (2002), Screenplay
- *Cry, the Beloved Country* (1995), Writer
- *The Browning Version* (1994), Writer
- *A Fine Romance* (1991), Writer
- *Costume Designer* (1988), Story
- *Breakthrough at Reykjavik* (1987), Script
- *Mandela* (1987), Writer
- *The Doctor and the Devils* (1985), Writer
- *The Dresser* (1983), Screenplay, Theatre Play, Producer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-dresser.md)
- *Evita Peron* (1981), Teleplay
- *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, Writer
- *Operation: Daybreak* (1975), Screenplay
- *One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich* (1970), Screenplay
- *Eyewitness* (1970), Screenplay
- *ITV Saturday Night Theatre* (1969), series, Writer
- *Diamonds for Breakfast* (1968), Writer
- *ITV Playhouse* (1967), series, Writer
- *Arrivederci, Baby!* (1966), Story
- *Knock on Any Door* (1965), series, Writer
- *A High Wind in Jamaica* (1965), Screenplay
- *The Barber of Stamford Hill* (1963), Screenplay
- *Private Potter* (1962), Screenplay

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 2 nominated

- 2008: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The Diving Bell and the Butterfly*
- 2003: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *The Pianist*
- 1984: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *The Dresser*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ronald-harwood