David Hare

David Hare is an English playwright, screenwriter, and director. Born and raised in Sussex, he attended Jesus College at Cambridge where he became a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club. After his graduation, he worked with the Portable Theatre Company and wrote his first play Slag in 1970. He then became the Resident Dramatist at London’s Royal Court Theatre, before founding the Joint Stock Theatre Company in 1975. In 1984, Hare became the Associate Director of the National Theatre, where many of his plays have since been produced. Hare has written a prolific catalogue of plays, including Teeth ‘n’ Smiles (1975), Plenty (1978), The Secret Rapture (1988), Racing Demon (1990, for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Play), Murmuring Judges (1991), Skylight (1995), Amy’s View (1997), and The Vertical Hour (2006).

Hare has also achieved great success on film and television and founded his film company, Greenpoint Films, in 1982. He has been twice-nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Hours (2002) and The Reader (2008). He has also both written and directed films, such as Paris By Night (1988), Strapless (1989), Page Eight (2011), and Salting the Battlefield (2014).

In 1993, Hare sold his personal archive to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin. He was knighted in 1998. Hare has been married twice and has three children.