James Ivory Net Worth

James Ivory's Quotes

• [on his affinity to India] It wasn't as though I had a childhood preoccupation with India. It was completely accidental and was based on my seeing The River (1951) and later on seeing a group of miniature Indian paintings. And then, most important, seeing the films of Ray [Satyajit Ray], the Apu trilogy. That's what really got me started - a combination of things spread out over a period of six or so years.
• [on author and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala] The first book she gave me to read was "The Europeans"; then I went through them all. But it's very hard to get financing for a Henry James story. I spent many years trying with The Europeans (1979) and finally got the money from Britain. And the same with this one: a little American money, but, again, the English came up with most of it. Henry James just isn't box office here, apparently. He's more appreciated in England. [1984]
• Ismail [Ismail Merchant] was very keen for us to do A Room with a View (1985). We had paid for the rights and it was just sitting there. But Ruth [Ruth Prawer Jhabvala] and I were working on another screenplay, a contemporary story, and I said, "Must we? I don't want to do another period film right now." Thank God we did! Because of that film a lot of opportunities were created in studios. They couldn't understand how a film which cost $3.5 million to make could make $70 million at the box office. They thought we had some great secret.
• [on Ismail Merchant] He was absolutely my closest friend and my creative partner for all my productive life, apart from my very first films, which were documentaries before I knew him. Ismail was there to get everything going, keep an eye on things and make sure that we had everything we needed. He made sure the film was released properly and publicised properly. He was a genius at publicity and knew exactly what he had to do. In every way, he was the most supportive of producers. He trusted so many people to do a good job when they seemed inexperienced and didn't have much in the way of credits. But he was convinced they would be good. It applied to actors and often to editors or art directors or whoever, and they all finally turned out great and had good careers.
• I think the Merchant Ivory brand really means literate dialogue. I think it starts with that. When people say something, you know it has some sort of ripples to it.

Interesting Facts about James Ivory

1. Graduated from USC School of Cinema-Television (1957) in Los Angeles, California.
2. From 1965 to 2005, he & his producer Ismail Merchant enjoyed a collaboration that is probably unequaled in movie history for its success and consistency. In 1987, the pair's accomplishments were honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. premiere of Maurice (1987), attended by scores of their devotees, including Christopher Reeve, Sam Waterston, Greta Scacchi and even U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
3. On location, his partner and producer Ismail Merchant was renowned for his cooking and feeding of cast & crew, a practice often necessary in Merchant/Ivory's earlier low-budget days.
4. James Ivory and partner Ismail Merchant were awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for their films' "visual beauty, mature and intelligent themes, shrewd casting and superb acting". [February 2002]
5. Earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in 1951. He donated his personal papers to the university in 2003.
6. The National Portrait Gallery in London has paintings of Jim and his partners, Ismail Merchant and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - even though they all live in New York City and none of them are English. (Ruth is German/Polish, Ismail is Indian, and James is American).
7. Biography: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985," pp. 458-465. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
8. Directed 6 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Vanessa Redgrave, Denholm Elliott, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, Joanne Woodward and Anthony Hopkins. Thompson won an Oscar for Howards End (1992).
9. Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 50th Venice International Film Festival in 1993.
10. Received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 58. Pula Film Festival in Croatia 2011.
11. James Ivory's last feature film as a director was The City of Your Final Destination (2009), which he shot mostly in Argentina from Dec. 2006 to Jan. 2007.
12. In addition to their 40-year-long professional partnership, Ismail Merchant and James Ivory were also longtime romantic partners.
13. Directed three features nominated for a 'Best Picture' Academy Award, all produced by Ismail Merchant: A Room with a View (1985), Howards End (1992), The Remains of the Day (1993). The three features also all earned nominations for James Ivory as 'Best Director' and for Ruth Prawer Jhabvala as 'Best Adapted Screenplay'.
14. At age 89, James Ivory became the oldest winner of a competitive BAFTA on 18 Feb. 2018 (Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by Your Name (2017)).
15. At age 89, James Ivory became the oldest winner of a competitive Academy Award on March 4, 2018 (Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by Your Name (2017)).
16. In 2017, James Ivory announced his new feature film project Richard II, for which he has already a screenplay, a cast and locations. He has hoped to make this film since the early 90s.