---
name: "William Boyd"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/william-boyd-63120"
fi1m_id: "william-boyd-63120"
imdb_id: "nm0101956"
tmdb_id: 63120
wikidata_id: "Q722103"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "7 March 1952"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-07T15:30:25.998251+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."
---

# William Boyd

## Identity

William Boyd

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/william-boyd-63120
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** william-boyd-63120
- **IMDb ID:** nm0101956
- **TMDB ID:** 63120
- **Wikidata ID:** Q722103
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Boyd_(writer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722103, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0101956/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/63120

Writer. Born 7 March 1952 in Accra, Gold Coast [now Ghana].

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 7 March 1952, Accra, Gold Coast [now Ghana]
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Boyd_(writer), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q722103, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0101956/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/63120

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Any Human Heart*](https://film.one/tv/any-human-heart.md) (73)

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

## Biography

William Boyd is a Scottish novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. He was born on 7 March 1952 in Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana), to Scottish parents, and grew up in West Africa before attending school in Scotland and universities in France, Scotland and England.

His novels include *A Good Man in Africa* (1981), *Any Human Heart* (2002) and *Restless* (2006). He wrote the screenplay for the film *Chaplin* (1992) and adapted his own novel *Any Human Heart* as a four-part television series first broadcast in 2010, for which he is credited as creator and writer. He also directed the First World War drama *The Trench* (1999).

Boyd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for services to literature and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Any Human Heart* (2010), Fi1m 73, Writer, Creator — [page](https://film.one/tv/any-human-heart.md)

## Complete filmography (21)

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

- *Martin Amis: Money and Memories* (2023), Actor
- *Spy City* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Writer, Creator
- *The Dreams of Bethany Mellmoth* (2017), Writer
- *Restless* (2012), series, Screenplay, Executive Producer
- *Any Human Heart* (2010), series, Writer, Creator — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/any-human-heart.md)
- *10 Minute Tales* (2009), series, Writer
- *A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets* (2005), Screenplay
- *Man to Man* (2005), Author
- *Sword of Honour* (2001), Screenplay
- *Sword of Honour* (2001), series, Writer
- *The Trench* (1999), Director, Writer
- *A Good Man in Africa* (1994), Writer, Novel, Co-Producer
- *Chaplin* (1992), Screenplay
- *Mister Johnson* (1991), Screenplay
- *Tune in Tomorrow...* (1990), Writer
- *Stars & Bars* (1988), Screenplay, Novel
- *Scoop* (1987), Screenplay
- *Dutch Girls* (1985), Writer
- *Good and Bad at Games* (1983), Writer
- *Nobody’s Heart*, Writer
- *The Captain and the Enemy*, Writer

## Awards

### Other awards — 10 won, 2 nominated

- Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises 2025: Prix du Rayonnement de la langue et de la littérature françaises (won)
- Bodley Medal 2017: Bodley Medal (won)
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire 2005: Commander of the Order of the British Empire (won)
- Officer of Arts and Letters 2005: Officer of Arts and Letters (won)
- Jean Monnet Prize 2003: Jean Monnet Prize (won)
- Booker Prize 2002: Booker Prize (nominated), for *Any Human Heart*
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize 1990: James Tait Black Memorial Prize (won)
- Best of Young British Novelists 1983: Best of Young British Novelists (won)
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature 1983: Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (won)
- Booker Prize 1982: Booker Prize (nominated), for *An Ice-Cream War*
- Somerset Maugham Award 1982: Somerset Maugham Award (won), for *A Good Man in Africa*
- Costa Book Award for First Novel 1981: Costa Book Award for First Novel (won), for *A Good Man in Africa*

*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/william-boyd-63120