Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Who Is Frank Cottrell-Boyce?

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a British writer and actor. He writes stories for children. He also writes movies and TV shows. He works a lot with the director Michael Winterbottom. He helped write the opening ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He also wrote new books that follow the famous car story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He is friendly and fun to read about. He loves to make people smile with his words.

Early Life and Background

Frank Cottrell-Boyce was born on September 23 1959.

Career and Claim to Fame

Frank Cottrell-Boyce started as a writer for film and TV. He became well known for his children's books. He wrote the sequel books to the classic Chitty Chitty Bang Bang story. He also wrote the script for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. That big event made many people notice his talent. He works often with the movie maker Michael Winterbottom. Together they made several popular films. He also appears on screen as an actor from time to time. His work shows a love for fun and imagination. For more information you can visit his website at https en.wikipedia.org wiki Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Frank Cottrell-Boyce was born on September 23 1959. He is sixty seven years old today. His zodiac sign is Libra. Libras are known for being kind and fair. They like balance and peace. They enjoy helping others and making sure everyone feels included.

Fun Facts and Legacy

Frank Cottrell-Boyce is a British screenwriter novelist and actor. He was born on September 23 1959 and is now sixty seven years old. He is a Libra who loves harmony and fairness. He is famous for writing the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and for the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang sequel books. He works with Michael Winterbottom and writes for children and movies. You can learn more about him at https en.wikipedia.org wiki Frank Cottrell-Boyce. His stories bring joy to many readers and viewers. His friendly style makes him a beloved creator.

Frank Cottrell-Boyce - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Frank Cottrell-Boyce (né Francis G. Boyce; born 23 September 1959) is a British screenwriter, novelist and occasional actor, known for his children's fiction and for his collaborations with film director Michael Winterbottom. He has achieved fame as the writer for the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and for sequels to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, a children's classic by Ian Fleming.

This profile of Frank Cottrell-Boyce covers Personal Life, Marriage and Family Life and Career and Rise to Fame.

Cottrell-Boyce has won two major British awards for children's books: the 2004 Carnegie Medal for Millions, which originated as a film script, and the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat, which was commissioned by a charity. In July 2024, he was appointed as Children's Laureate, for a two-year period, succeeding Joseph Coelho.

Personal Life of Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Boyce was born in 1959 in Bootle, near Liverpool, to a Catholic family. He moved to Rainhill, while still at primary school. He attended St Bartholomew's Primary School in Rainhill and West Park Grammar School. He was greatly influenced by reading Moomins growing up. He read English at Keble College, Oxford, where he went on to earn a doctorate. He wrote criticism for the magazine Living Marxism.

Marriage and Family Life of Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Frank Cottrell-Boyce met Denise Cottrell, a fellow Keble undergraduate, and they married in 1983 in Keble College chapel; they combined their surnames. Together they have seven children. He is also a patron of the Insight Film Festival, a biennial, interfaith festival held in Manchester, UK, to make positive contributions to understanding, respect and community cohesion. Aidan Cottrell-Boyce, one of the couple's sons, is also a writer.

In March 2026, Cottrell-Boyce was awarded the Honorary Freedom of the Borough for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton.

Career and Rise to Fame

After he met Michael Winterbottom, the two collaborated on Forget About Me. Winterbottom made five further films based on screenplays written by Cottrell-Boyce, Butterfly Kiss, Welcome to Sarajevo, The Claim, 24 Hour Party People and Code 46. Their 2005 collaboration, A Cock and Bull Story, is their last according to Cottrell-Boyce, who asked that his contribution be credited to "Martin Hardy", a pseudonym. He told Variety, "I just had to move on... What better way to walk away than by giving Winterbottom a good script for free?"

Other film directors with whom Cottrell-Boyce has worked include Danny Boyle (Millions), Alex Cox (Revengers Tragedy), Richard Laxton (Grow Your Own) and Anand Tucker (Hilary and Jackie).

Cottrell-Boyce has been praised by Roger Ebert as one of the few truly inventive modern-day screenwriters. He has spoken against the "three-act structure" and the "hero's journey" formulas, which are often regarded as axiomatic truths in the business. Perhaps his most famous example of this is in 24 Hour Party People where the character of Anthony Wilson states that "Scott Fitzgerald said there are no second acts in American lives. This is Manchester. We do things differently. This is the second act", which Cottrell-Boyce has stated was due to criticism of the script not following the three-act structure.

Cottrell-Boyce has adapted novels for the screen and written children's fiction. His first novel Millions was based on his own screenplay for the film of the same name; it was published by Macmillan in 2004. Cottrell-Boyce won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising it as the year's best children's book published in the U.K. His next novel, Framed, he made the shortlist for both the Carnegie and the Whitbread Children's Book Award. He adapted it as a screenplay for a 2009 BBC television film. He made the Carnegie shortlist again for Cosmic (2008). In 2011, he was commissioned to write a sequel to the Ian Fleming children's book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which was published in October 2011 as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again. In addition to Coronation Street, he wrote many episodes of the soap opera Brookside, as well as its spin-offs Damon and Debbie and South.

He wrote and staged his first original theatre production Proper Clever at the Liverpool Playhouse during the city's European Capital of Culture year, 2008. On 18 September 2010, he co-presented the Papal Visit at Hyde Park with TV personality Carol Vorderman. In June 2012, he assumed the position of Professor of Reading (the first such professorship) at Liverpool Hope University.

Cottrell-Boyce was the writer of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, whose storyline he based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. He collaborated with director Danny Boyle and other members of the creative team, including designer Mark Tildesley, in the development of the story and themes, and wrote "short documents that told the story of each segment" to provide context for choreographers, builders and other participants. He also wrote the brochure, the stadium announcements and the media guide for presenter Huw Edwards.

Three months later, Cottrell-Boyce won the 2012 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize for The Unforgotten Coat. That story of a cross-cultural friendship was inspired by a Mongolian girl he met as a writer visiting her school, whose family was later deported by the British immigration office. It was commissioned by Reader Organisation of Liverpool and 50,000 copies were given away. The Guardian Prize is judged by a panel of British children's writers and recognises the year's best book by an author who has not yet won it. Interviewed by the sponsoring newspaper, Cottrell-Boyce told The Guardian that "I'm definitely a children's writer[;] that's what I want to be. I'm always trying to get rid of everything else.... The movies I'm doing are ones that have been on the blocks for a long time."

Cottrell-Boyce was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature at Edge Hill University on 16 July 2013.

In 2014, Cottrell-Boyce wrote an episode of Doctor Who, titled "In the Forest of the Night". He also wrote the second episode of the tenth series, "Smile". In September 2015, Cottrell-Boyce held the keynote speech at the Children's and Young Adult Program of the 15th Berlin International Literature Festival.

In January 2018, he was on the victorious Keble College, Oxford University Challenge "famous alumni" team; he won almost all of the points scored by Keble (total score 240) and was lionized on social media as a consequence; Reading University scored 0 in that game, thus making television history.

Cottrell-Boyce is an advocate for reading aloud and patron of The Reader Organisation. A charity that works through volunteers to bring literature to everyone, through reading aloud in prisons, care homes and other community spaces. In July 2024, he was appointed as Children's Laureate for the term 2024 to 2026, succeeding Joseph Coelho.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Cottrell-Boyce), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.