Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10
November 1944)
is an English musical
theatre lyricist,
author, radio presenter and television
gameshow
panelist.
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Contents
- 1 Career
- 2 Personal
life
- 3 Theatrical
productions
- 4 Film
and television work
- 5 Trivia
- 6 Contributions
- 7 External
links
|
Career
Rice was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire,
England,
and was educated at Aldwickbury school, St Albans School
and Lancing College. He is best known
for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom
he wrote Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar
and Evita, and
his work for The Walt Disney Company with
Alan
Menken and Sir Elton John. He also collaborated
with Björn
Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA on Chess
and with Rick Wakeman on the concept
albums 1984
and Cost of Living.
He was a co-founder of the Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles and served as an editor
from 1977 to 1996. He has also been a frequent guest panelist for many
years on the radio panel games Just
a Minute and Trivia
Test Match. Rice often jokes that he is most
recognised in America for his appearance in the film About
a Boy. The film includes several clips from a
(real) edition of the game show Countdown
on which he was the guest adjudicator. His other interests include
cricket (he was President of the Marylebone Cricket Club in
2002) and maths. He wrote the foreword to the book Why
do buses come in threes? by Rob
Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham, and featured prominently in Tony
Hawks' One Hit Wonderland,
where he co-wrote the song which gave Hawks a top twenty hit in Albania.
Rice was interviewed by Dom Joly in the cult British
sketch show Trigger Happy TV.
Whilst discussing Rice's autobiography somewhere near Kensington
Church Street in London, Joly feigns a severe migraine, prompting Rice
to ask "Are you OK? - you're not about to die are you?" Joly attempts
to continue the interview but after some moments he wanders off
declaring, "I'm sorry I can't do this anymore, it's not my scene" -
leaving Rice to ponder, "is that normal?"
He released his autobiography Oh What a Circus - The
Autobiography of Tim Rice in 1998, which covered his
childhood and early adult life until the opening of the original London production
of Evita
in 1978. A sequel covering his life since then is in production.
Personal life
Rice married Jane McIntosh, who retains the title Lady Rice,
in 1974, but the marriage broke up in the late-1980s after the British
tabloid newspapers revealed that he'd been conducting an affair with
the actress, Elaine Paige. It has been suggested
that one of Rice's most famous songs, I
Know Him So Well was based on this situation.
Rice is a Sunderland A.F.C. supporter, and
was awarded a honorary doctorate of letters by the University of Sunderland at
a ceremony at the Stadium of Light in November 2006[1] Rice is also a supporter of the
Conservative Party.
Theatrical productions
Rice wrote the lyrics for the following productions:
- 1966: The Likes of Us
- music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Not produced until 2005
- 1968: Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - music
by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Expanded in 1973.
- 1971: Jesus Christ Superstar
- music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Followed 1970 concept album.
- 1978: Evita -
music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Followed 1976 concept album.
- 1983: Blondel -
music by Stephen Oliver. Revived in 2006.
- 1986: Chess -
music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn
Ulvaeus. Followed 1984 concept album.
- 1986: Cricket -
music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Mini-show written in celebration of Queen
Elizabeth II's 60th Birthday.
- 1992: Tycoon -
music by Michael Berger.
Rice adapted the original French lyrics to Starmania
by Luc
Plamondon.
- 1994: Beauty and the Beast
- music by Alan Menken. Rice contributed to new
songs in addition to the original entries by Howard
Ashman.
- 1996: Heathcliff
- music by John Farrar. Followed 1995 concept album.
- 1997: King David
- music by Menken.
- 1997: The Lion King
- music by Elton John. Additional
contributions by Lebo
M, Mark
Mancina, Jay
Rifkin, Julie
Taymor and Hans Zimmer. Followed the 1994 film.
- 2000: Aida - music
by Elton John. Followed 1999 "All-Star" album.
Film and television work
In addition to adaptations of his theatrical productions, Rice
has worked on several original film and television projects:
- 1992: Aladdin
- music by Alan Menken. Completed work begun by Howard Ashman.
- 1994: The Lion King
- music by Elton John, score by Hans Zimmer.
- 2000: The Road to El Dorado
- music by Elton John, score by Hans Zimmer.
Trivia
- Rice was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in
1999.
- In 2002, he was named a Disney
Legend.
- His daughter, Eva
Rice, is a best-selling author.
- He supports Sunderland AFC.
Contributions
- Rice wrote the lyrics to two best-selling albums of the
year: First for Jesus Christ Superstar
in 1970 and then for The Lion King
in 1994.
- Rice wrote the lyrics to The Golden Boy and The Fallen
Priest both taken from Freddie Mercury's solo album Barcelona
(album)
- Rice wrote the lyrics to the 1981 concept album 1984
composed by Rick Wakeman and inspired by
the George
Orwell novel of the same title.
External links
