Julian Fellowes

Born in Cairo, Egypt, Julian Fellowes was raised in a privileged home headed by his civil servant father. Growing up on the family estate in Weatherby Place, South Kensington, Fellowes was educated at Ampleforth College before attending the University of Cambridge, where he earned his master's in English literature and was a member of the famed Footlights theater club. After studying further at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, he honed his craft appearing on the stage with various repertory companies as well as making the occasional guest appearance on television, including "The Duchess of Duke Street" (1977). Following a role in the British miniseries "My Son, My Son" (BBC, 1979), he moved to Los Angeles and acted in several made-for-television movies.

Disenchanted with Southern California, Fellowes returned to England, where he served as the associate producer on the four-part miniseries "A Married Man" (1984) starring Hopkins. His acting credits continued with roles in "Florence Nightingale" (1985) and "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend" (1985), and he co-starred in "Fellow Traveler" (HBO, 1989), a drama about the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s.

In 1994, Fellowes made his screenwriting debut adapting Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel "Little Lord Fauntleroy" into an award-winning miniseries that aired in the United States on the Disney Channel the following year. He then joined the cast of the series "Monarch of the Glen" (BBC, 2000-05) as Scottish Earl Kilwillie, appearing in 23 episodes over its seven series. While on the show, he wrote the screenplay for "Gosford Park" (2001), a murder mystery set in 1930s England that won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Fellowes continued to adapt literary works, such as William Makepeace Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" (2004) for director Mira Nair, and directed the marriage drama "Separate Lies" (2005), starring Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson. He wrote "Piccadilly Jim" (2005) and directed "From Time to Time" (2009), a comic fantasy about a boy living in a haunted house during World War II.

Fellowes achieved substantial success as the creator and executive producer of "Downton Abbey" (BBC/PBS, 2010- ), a series that explores the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. The show, which started around the turn of the century with the sinking of the Titanic, covered major historical events like World War I and the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918. It premiered on the BBC and aired in the U.S. on PBS' "Masterpiece Theater," earning widespread acclaim and numerous awards, including a record 16 Emmy Award nominations in 2012, making it the most nominated non-U.S. show in Emmy history.