Patrick Marber Biography

Writer (and occasional director and actor) Patrick Marber was born in London in 1964. He was educated at Wadham College, Oxford.

He worked as a stand-up comedian for a number of years and then co-wrote and appeared in the comedy programmes 'On The Hour' (Radio 4), 'The Day Today' (BBC2), 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' (Radio 4 and BBC2), and 'Paul and Pauline Calf's Video Diaries' (BBC2).

His first play, Dealer's Choice, was first performed at the Royal National Theatre in February 1995, transferring to the West End later that year. Among numerous productions across the world the play has been produced in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Melbourne, Berlin, Vienna and Zurich.

Marber's second play, Closer, premiered at the Royal National Theatre in May 1997, transferring to the West End in March 1998. The play became an international hit and has been produced in more than a hundred cities in over thirty different languages across the world. His latest play, Howard Katz, opened at the Royal National Theatre in June 2001. After Miss Julie, his free version of Strindberg's Miss Julie, was broadcast on BBC Television as part of the 'Performance' series in November 1995. A collected edition of his work, Plays One, is published in 2003.

In addition to directing his own plays, Marber has directed Craig Raine's 1953 (Almeida), Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills (Royal National Theatre, Lyttleton), David Mamet's The Old Neighbourhood (Royal Court) and Harold Pinter's The Caretaker (Comedy Theatre). In 2000 he acted in the West End revival of David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow, directed by Peter Gill.

Patrick Marber lives in London.