Anthony Minghella R.I.P.

In an out-of-nowhere report, director Anthony Minghella died today at the age of 54. The spokesperson's statement went like this: "Anthony Minghella died this morning at Charing Cross Hospital in Hammersmith, west London. He was operated on last week for a growth in his neck, and the operation seemed to have gone well. At 5am today he had a fatal haemorrhage."

Minghella is best known as the director of the award winning The English Patient, but he had his hand in many aspects of the movie business. He was a producer, most recently for the fantastic Michael Clayton. He was chairman of the British Film Institute. He ran Mirage Enterprises jointly with Sidney Pollack. Minghella most recent production, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, is scheduled to air on the BBC next week.

Mingella had many irons in the fire and no doubt had many more movies to make.