Julian (Fellowes) Kitchener-Fellowes DL

Ancestors

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Ros Haywood [send private message] and England Project WikiTree [send private message]

Julian (Fellowes) Kitchener-Fellowes DL is managed by the England Project. Join: England Project Discuss: england

award-winning creator, writer and executive producer of Downton Abbey

Biography

Julian (Fellowes) Kitchener-Fellowes DL is Notable.

Julian Alexander Fellowes was born on 17 August 1949 in Cairo, Egypt to Peregrine Fellowes and his wife Olwen (Stuart-Jones) Fellowes. His father was a diplomat and worked with future spies Burgess, Philby, and Maclean. Julian's paternal great grandfather, John Wrightson, pioneered agricultural education and was the founder of Downton Agricultural College in Downton, Wiltshire, England, while his great uncle Peregrine Forbes Morant Fellowes was an Air Commodore.

Julian attended several private schools, then read English Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge University. There, he was a member of Footlights, an amateur theatrical society run by the students. He then attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (one of the leading drama schools in the country) in London.

Julian moved to Los Angeles in 1981, where he worked mainly in television in small roles. After a couple of years, he moved back to England, where the roles he played were more notable. He most frequently worked in BBC adaptations and historical dramas, and the parts he played were often leaders, nobility, and royalty, although one 1989 film sees him appearing as Noël Coward (Goldeneye: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming).

In 1998, Julian Fellowes changed his name to Julian Kitchener-Fellows to include the maiden name of his wife, whom he married in 1990. ^[1] He said he proposed to her 20 minutes after meeting her, "having spent 19 minutes getting up the nerve". The couple have one son.

In 2001, Julian wrote the script for the satirical black comedy mystery film, Gosford Park, which starred several 'famous names', such as Stephen Fry, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, and Maggie Smith. The film follows the investigation of a murder committed at a house party, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards and nine British Academy Film Awards. Julian won the 'Best Original Screenplay' Academy Award.

In 2004, he appeared as a 'historical detective' in the docudrama series on BBC One: Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder, a series of unsolved murders from British history. Julian wrote the series. ^[2]

Downton Abbey

It was in 2010 that Julian Fellowes created, wrote, and produced the wildly popular Downton Abbey. The series is set in a fictional Yorkshire country estate of the Earl of Grantham (in reality: Highclere Castle and grounds) between 1912 and 1926, and follows the mores and attitudes of the Crawley family and their servants, and how they react to (and cope with) events of the time (such as the sinking of the Titanic). Fashions are also represented, veering from lavish gowns to relatively undecorated flapper dresses (and includes the decision for men on whether to wear a black tie or a white one for dinner). The series has won many awards (27 Primetime Emmy Awards) and has achieved an entry in the Guinness World Records as 'the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011'. Downton Abbey has now become the most successful British costume drama series since Brideshead Revisited (1981), even while costing approximate £1 million per hour to film. ^[3]

In 2011, Julian was created Baron Fellowes of West Stafford (West Stafford is in the county of Dorset) ^[4] and sits as a Conservative peer.

The Downton Abbey series was set to close after the 2015 Christmas special, with the sixth series being the final one. A film was released in 2019, and a follow-up film is to be released in 2022. Another 2022 release, written by Julian, is called The Golden Age, which is set in New York and is a spin-off prequel for Downton Abbey. ^[5]

Lord Fellowes is a Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset, Lord of the manor of Tattershall in Lincolnshire, and President of the Society of Dorset Men.

He and his family live in Dorset.

Sources

1. ↑ Name Change London Gazette
2. ↑ Touchpaper TV (Wayback Machine)
3. ↑ "Downton Abbey: How Hollywood is snapping up our bright TV drama stars", Mirror.co.uk
4. ↑ Barony: London Gazette
5. ↑ "Downton Abbey: Julian Fellowes plans a prequel", Anita Singh, The Telegraph Online

See Also:

• Wikipedia:Julian_Fellowes