Julian Fellowes Popular Books

Julian Fellowes Biography & Facts

Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, (born 17 August 1949), known professionally as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director, screenwriter, and Conservative peer. He has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and two Emmy Awards as well as nominations for four BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award, two Olivier Awards, and a Tony Award. Fellowes won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the Robert Altman directed murder-mystery Gosford Park (2001). He also wrote the screenplays for Vanity Fair (2004), Separate Lies (2005), The Young Victoria (2009), and The Chaperone (2018). He gained renown as the creator, writer and executive producer of the multiple award-winning ITV series Downton Abbey (2010–2015) and the HBO series The Gilded Age (2022–present). He wrote the books for the Broadway musicals Mary Poppins (2006), and School of Rock (2015). Early life and education Fellowes was born into a family of the British landed gentry in Cairo, Egypt, the youngest of four boys, to Peregrine Edward Launcelot Fellowes (1912–1999) and his British wife, Olwen Mary (née Stuart-Jones). His father was a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, restored to his throne during World War II. His great-grandfather was John Wrightson, a pioneer in agricultural education and the founder of Downton Agricultural College. Peregrine's uncle was Peregrine Forbes Morant Fellowes (1883–1955), Air Commodore and DSO. Fellowes has three older brothers: Nicholas Peregrine James, actor; writer David Andrew; and playwright Roderick Oliver. The siblings' childhood home was at Wetherby Place, South Kensington, and afterwards at Chiddingly, East Sussex, where Fellowes lived from August 1959 until November 1988, and where his parents are buried. The house in Chiddingly, which had been owned by the whodunit writer Clifford Kitchin, was within easy reach of London where his father, who had been a diplomat, worked as an executive for Shell. Part of Fellowes' formative years were also spent in Nigeria, where his father helped run Shell operations during the transition from the colonial era to Nigeria's Independence. Fellowes has described him as one "of that last generation of men who lived in a pat of butter without knowing it. My mother put him on a train on Monday mornings and drove up to London in the afternoon. At the flat she'd be waiting in a snappy little cocktail dress with a delicious dinner and drink. Lovely, really." The friendship his family developed with another family in the village, the Kingsleys, influenced Fellowes. David Kingsley was head of British Lion Films, the company responsible for many Peter Sellers comedies. Sometimes "glamorous figures" would visit the Kingsleys' house. Fellowes said that he thinks he "learnt from David Kingsley that you could actually make a living in the film business."Fellowes was educated at several private schools in Britain, including Wetherby School, St Philip's School (a Catholic boys school in South Kensington) and Ampleforth College, which his father had preferred over Eton. He read English Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was a member of Footlights. He graduated with a 2:1. He studied further at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Career 1977–1999: Acting career Fellowes also wrote several romantic novels in the 1970s, under the pseudonym Rebecca Greville. Other films in which Fellowes has appeared include Full Circle (1977), Priest of Love (1981), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), Goldeneye: The Secret Life of Ian Fleming (1989, as Noël Coward), Damage (1992), Shadowlands (1993), Jane Eyre (1996), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Regeneration (1997) and Place Vendôme (1998). He has continued his acting career while writing. As an actor, Fellowes began his acting career at the Royal Theatre, Northampton. He has appeared in several West End productions, including Samuel Taylor's A Touch of Spring, Alan Ayckbourn's Joking Apart and a revival of Noël Coward's Present Laughter. He appeared at the National Theatre in The Futurists, written by Dusty Hughes. Fellowes moved to Los Angeles in 1981 and played a number of small roles on television for the next two years, including a role in Tales of the Unexpected. He believed that his breakthrough had come when he was considered to replace Hervé Villechaize as the assistant on the television series Fantasy Island, but the role went to actor Christopher Hewett instead. He was unable to get an audition for the Disney film Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend (1985) in Los Angeles, but was offered the role when he was visiting England. When he asked the film's director why he was not able to get an interview in Los Angeles, he was told that they felt the best actors were in Britain.After this, Fellowes decided to move back to England to further his career, and soon played a leading role in the 1987 TV series Knights of God as Brother Hugo, the "ambitious and ruthless second-in-command" of a futuristic military cult. Subsequently, in 1991 he played Neville Marsham in Danny Boyle's For the Greater Good and Dr. Jobling in the 1994 BBC adaptation of Martin Chuzzlewit. Other notable acting roles included the role of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial Our Friends in the North and the 2nd Duke of Richmond in the BBC drama serial Aristocrats. He portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent twice: first in the film The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) and the second in the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel Sharpe's Regiment, as well as playing Major Dunnett in Sharpe's Rifles. He also played the part of Kilwillie on Monarch of the Glen. He appeared as the leader of the Hullabaloos in the television adaptation of Arthur Ransome's Coot Club, called Swallows and Amazons Forever! (1984). 2001–2009: Gosford Park and Broadway debut Fellowes wrote the script for Gosford Park, which won the Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002. He also won a Writers Guild of America award for it. In late 2005, Fellowes made his directorial début with the film Separate Lies, for which he won the award for Best Directorial Début from the National Board of Review.He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder, which he wrote and introduced onscreen. Fellowes's novel Snobs was published in 2004. It focuses on the social nuances of the upper class and concerns the marriage of an upper middle-class girl to a peer. Snobs was a Sunday Times best-seller. In 2009 his novel Past Imperfect was published. Another Sunday Times best-seller, it deals with the débutante season of 1968, comparing the world then to the world of 2008. He was the presenter of Never Mind the Full Stops, a panel game show broadcast on BBC Four from 2006 to 2007. As a writer, he penned the script to the West End musical Mary Poppins (2006), pr.... Discover the Julian Fellowes popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Julian Fellowes books.

Best Seller Julian Fellowes Books of 2024

  • The Secrets of Ashmore Castle synopsis, comments

    The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

    Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

    The brand new series, perfect for fans of DOWNTON ABBEY, from the author of the hugely successful MORLAND DYNASTY novelsBehind the doors of the magnificent Ashmore Castle, secrets ...

  • Doctor Thorne TV Tie-In with a foreword by Julian Fellowes synopsis, comments

    Doctor Thorne TV Tie-In with a foreword by Julian Fellowes

    Anthony Trollope, Julian Fellowes & Simon Dentith

    Frank Gresham needs to marry for money if he is to save his impoverished family estate. But he loves the doctor's penniless niece, and faces a terrible dilemma. Doctor Thorne, n...

  • How I Met My Wife synopsis, comments

    How I Met My Wife

    Nicholas Coleridge

    A collection of fourteen stories containing a broad cast of amusing characters involved in adventures which are by turns funny, ingenious and moving.

  • The Courtesan and the Samurai synopsis, comments

    The Courtesan and the Samurai

    Lesley Downer

    1868. In Japan's exotic pleasure quarters, sex is for sale and the only forbidden fruit is love ...Hana is just seventeen when her husband goes to war, leaving her alone and vulner...

  • Class synopsis, comments

    Class

    Jilly Cooper OBE

    CLASS IS DEAD!Or so everyone claims. Who better to refute this than Jilly Cooper!Describing herself as 'upper middle class', Jilly claims that snobbery is very much alive and thriv...

  • The Hitopadesa synopsis, comments

    The Hitopadesa

    M Narayana

    Composed between 800 and 950 AD, Narayana's Hitopadesa is one of the bestknown of all works in Sanskrit literature. A fascinating collection of fables, maxims and sayings in verse,...

  • A Way Through the Wood synopsis, comments

    A Way Through the Wood

    Nigel Balchin

    A psychological study of marriage, loyalty and justice, A WAY THROUGH THE WOOD is a remarkable postwar novel.'A superb storyteller' SUNDAY TIMES 'I'd place him up there with Graha...

  • Secrets of Rose Briar Hall synopsis, comments

    Secrets of Rose Briar Hall

    Kelsey James

    In this Gilded Age gothic homage to “Gaslight” starring Ingrid Bergman, a wealthy young newlywed in early 20th century New York is isolated within her opulent, yet ominously empty ...

  • Writing Game synopsis, comments

    Writing Game

    David Lodge

    David Lodge’s first fulllength play examines that curious fixture in the writing game where the amateurs meet the professionals – on a course in creative writing. Maude, author of ...

  • To Marry an English Lord synopsis, comments

    To Marry an English Lord

    Gail MacColl & Carol McD. Wallace

    “Marvelous and entertaining.” Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey   Discover the true stories behind the women who inspired DowntonAbbey and HBO’s The Gilded Age, the he...

  • Marriage, Sex and Love in Traditional and Conservative Edwardian England. Lady Mary is Embracing the Modern World synopsis, comments

    Marriage, Sex and Love in Traditional and Conservative Edwardian England. Lady Mary is Embracing the Modern World

    Melina Wiese

    This paper will focus on women question depicted in ‘Downtown Abbey’.The present paper therefore briefly outlines the main characteristics of Edwardian women, which are relevant fo...

  • There Was a Time synopsis, comments

    There Was a Time

    Frank White

    On the day the Second World War broke out, Frank White was a 12yearold schoolboy in Manchester. On the day it ended, he was serving on a Royal Navy warship in the Indian Ocean. In ...

  • A Study in Scarlet synopsis, comments

    A Study in Scarlet

    Arthur Conan Doyle

    When Dr John Watson takes rooms in Baker Street with amateur detective Sherlock Holmes, he has no idea that he is about to enter a shadowy world of criminality and violence. Accomp...

  • The Scarlet Pimpernel synopsis, comments

    The Scarlet Pimpernel

    Baroness Orczy

    Baroness Orczy's classic tale of adventure during the French Revolution. Also available as an unabridged audiobook, read by Julian RhindTutt.Paris, 1792. The Terror has begun. Ever...

  • Thoughts For The Day synopsis, comments

    Thoughts For The Day

    Charles Handy

    Charles Handy may well be Britain's only worldclass management guru (Director Magazine) but his thoughts about organisations and the role of the individual involve thoughts beyond ...

  • She Came to Slay synopsis, comments

    She Came to Slay

    Erica Armstrong Dunbar

    In the bestselling tradition of The Notorious RBG comes a lively, informative, and illustrated tribute to one of the most exceptional women in American historyHarriet Tubmana heroi...

  • The Woman in the Castello synopsis, comments

    The Woman in the Castello

    Kelsey James

    “You'll get lost in the pages of this lush, entertaining story.” Ellen Marie Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of WillowbrookPerfect for readers of Silvi...

  • Forgotten Dreams synopsis, comments

    Forgotten Dreams

    Katie Flynn

    Lottie Lacey and her mother, Louella, share a house in Victoria Court with Mr Magic and his son Baz. Lottie is a child star, dancing and singing at the Gaiety Theatre to an enraptu...

  • The Lark synopsis, comments

    The Lark

    Edith Nesbit

    'A charming and brilliantly entertaining novel... shot through with the lighthearted Nesbit touch' Penelope Lively, from the introduction"When did two girls of our age have such a ...

  • Edwardian Cooking synopsis, comments

    Edwardian Cooking

    Larry Edwards

    The PBS Masterpiece series Downton Abbey has taken the world by storm. With 80 delicious recipes, this cookbook celebrates the phenomenal success of the series and the culinary won...

  • The Gilded Age in New York, 1870-1910 synopsis, comments

    The Gilded Age in New York, 1870-1910

    Esther Crain

    The drama, expansion, mansions and wealth of New York City's transformative Gilded Age era, from 1870 to 1910, captured in a magnificently illustrated hardcover. In forty short yea...

  • The Women of the Real Downton Abbey synopsis, comments

    The Women of the Real Downton Abbey

    The Countess of Carnarvon

    This collection, available exclusively as an ebook, brings together two tales of Highclere Castle, the grand estate that serves as the central character for the hit PBS show&#...

  • Wives Like Us synopsis, comments

    Wives Like Us

    Plum Sykes

    Take a grand English country house, one (heartbroken) American divorcee, three rich wives, two tycoons, a pair of miniature sausage dogs and one (bereaved) butl...

  • Escape To London synopsis, comments

    Escape To London

    Mary Jane Staples

    Austria, 1938. Anne von Korvacs watches in horror as Hitler's tanks roll through the streets of Vienna, amid crowds of cheering supporters. Her embittered exhusband, now a fervent ...

  • Turn Right At The Spotted Dog synopsis, comments

    Turn Right At The Spotted Dog

    Jilly Cooper OBE

    After going to live in the country Jilly Cooper wrote regularly for the Mail on Sunday for several years and this is a selection of her best pieces written at that time. The topics...

  • Fashion Babylon synopsis, comments

    Fashion Babylon

    Imogen Edwards-Jones

    What is fashion? What is fashionable? Who decides what's in and what's out? Why is it green one year and blue the next? Why is one little black dress worth five thousand dollars an...

  • Paul Clifford synopsis, comments

    Paul Clifford

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    'It was a dark and stormy night ...'Paul Clifford leads a double life. By day he is a fashionable man about town, the toast of genteel society. By night, he is 'Captain Lovett', a ...

  • Winnie Of The Waterfront synopsis, comments

    Winnie Of The Waterfront

    Rosie Harris

    Crippled by polio, young Winnie Molloy has little to look forward to in life. Her father, Trevor, adores her but she is neglected by her feckless mother, Grace. When war comes Trev...

  • The House by the Sea synopsis, comments

    The House by the Sea

    Santa Montefiore

    Previously published as The Mermaid Garden, the internationally bestselling author of The French Gardener presents a complex and irresistibly compelling novel that confirms the rem...

  • The Wisdom of Call The Midwife synopsis, comments

    The Wisdom of Call The Midwife

    Heidi Thomas

    A beautiful collection of the most heartwarming, inspirational and hilarious quotes from Call the Midwife, accompanied by beautiful photographs throughout. 'Love is never the only ...

  • The Ship of Dreams synopsis, comments

    The Ship of Dreams

    Gareth Russell

    This original and “meticulously researched retelling of history’s most infamous voyage” (Denise Kiernan, New York Times bestselling author) uses the sinking of the Titanic as a pri...