Biography for
Tim Rice (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

10 November 1944, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Birth Name

Timothy Miles Bindon Rice

Height

6' 4" (1.93 m)

Mini Biography

A prolific lyricist and librettist, Tim Rice was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, in the fall of 1944. Rice pursued his university education at Lancing College and briefly at l'Universite de Paris - Sorbonne. He was considering a legal career around the time that he met Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1965. Three years later, the two young men composed a 20-minute pop oratorio that would eventually become 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.' The piece was premiered on 1st March 1968 at the Colet Court School in the City of London. During the following months, Rice and Webber lengthened the oratorio to 30 minutes, and a record album of 'Joseph' (with Rice singing the role of Pharaoh) was made at the end of 1968.

Remaining in partnership with Webber, his next project was 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. Introduced to the public as a concept album in 1970, the opera propelled Rice and Webber to international stardom. Staged versions appeared the following year, and their popularity led to the film Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Following 'Superstar', Rice and Webber returned to their previous project and expanded it into (more or less) its finalised form. The concept album for 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' was released in 1974.

Inexplicably eclipsed by his collaborator, Rice may never have received the acclaim that he deserved for his contributions to the partnership. The death-throws of the Rice-Webber collaboration produced a third opera, called 'Evita'. Its concept album was released in 1976.

Rice continued on with a piece called 'Blondel', which appeared in 1983. Set to music by Stephen Oliver, 'Blondel' was arguably the most comic and witty of Rice's major works. The opera 'Chess' followed, with its concept album arriving in 1984. Former Abba songwriters 'Bjorn Ulvaeus' and Benny Andersson provided the music for 'Chess', and the concept album was an international hit. 'Chess' was staged in London in 1986 with great success, but the 1988 Broadway production was radically revised without Rice's knowledge or permission, and it was quickly shut down.

In 1991, he was hired to finish the lyrics for the Walt Disney film Aladdin (1992). Disney subsequently teamed him with Elton John for The Lion King (1994). Rice also composed additional lyrics for the stage version of Disney's film Beauty and the Beast (1991), which opened on Broadway in 1994. A stage version of The Lion King (1994) opened on Broadway in 1997, as he was working with Elton John on two new projects - 'Aida', which opened on Broadway in 2000, and the Dreamworks film The Road to El Dorado (2000).

The 1991 to 2000 period also saw a flurry of activity for Tim Rice's earlier works. Major revival productions of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' were staged in many parts of the world. Additionally, there was the film Evita (1996), as well as the video-films Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (1991) (TV), and Jesus Christ Superstar (2000) (TV).

Apart from theatre and film, Rice has written recurring columns for UK newspapers, as well as having shown up regularly on BBC Radio and Television. In 1973, he founded a cricket side - The Heartaches - for which he serves as a manager as well as a player. He also makes regular contributions to various cricket magazines.

He continues to have projects in development for the theatre and for film. Most anxiously awaited - especially by audiences in Canada and the United States - is, perhaps, a revival of the authentic 1986 London version of 'Chess'.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Liberty Salinger

Spouse

Jane McIntosh

(19 August 1974 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Was knighted in 1994

Has a brother, Jonathan, often known as Jo Rice, who has written some of the books of the TV series "Keeping Up Appearances" (1990) as well as co-founding The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles with Tim, Paul Gambaccini and Mike Read in 1977.

Is a supporter of Sunderland Football Club of the English Premiership Division.

Sang lead vocals with a pop group named The Aardvarks (1961-1963).

His first published song, "That's My Story", appeared in 1965, which was the same year he met Andrew Lloyd Webber .

Wrote songs with Andrew Lloyd Webber that were not intended for musicals including a song "It's Easy For You" recorded by Elvis Presley in 1976.

Is the chairman of The Foundation For Sports and the Arts.

He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2000 (1999 season) for Best New Musical for The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre.

He was nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Outstanding Musical Production of 2003 for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Originally wrote the lyrics for the song "Memory" for the Andrew Lloyd Webber -Trevor Nunn stage musical Cats. However, the show's director Trevor Nunn and Lloyd Webber had problems with his lyrics, which eventually led to Lloyd Webber commissioning Nunn to write his own lyrics for the tune. This drove a final nail into the already-splintered relationship between Tim Rice and Lloyd Webber, whose feud dates back to the days of their work on the original Evita concept album.

Has won three Tony Awards: two in 1980, as Best Score, his lyrics with Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, and as Best Book (Musical) for "Evita;" and in 2000, as Best Original Musical Score, his lyrics with Elton John's music for "Aida." He was also Tony-nominated five other times: in 1972, as Best Score, him as lyricist and Webber as composer, for "Jesus Christ Superstar;" in 1982, as Best Score, his lyrics with Webber's music, and as Best Book (Musical) for "Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamboat;" in 1994, as Original Music Score, lyrics by him and Howard Ashman with Alan Menken's music for "Beauty and the Beast;" and in 1998, as Best Original Music Score, shared with several others, for "The Lion King."

Supporter and promoter of the British Conservative Party.

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999.

His favorite songs are "Singing The Blues" by Tommy Steele, "Different Drum" by Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys, "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran, "Pity The Child" by Murray Head, "Runaway" by Del Shannon, "Joanne" by Michael Nesmith, "His Latest Flame" by Elvis Presley, "Hugging My Grudge" by The Boy Least Likely To, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper and "Travelling Light" by Cliff Richard & The Shadows. (Source: BBC Radio 2 "Tracks of My Years").

Father of author Eva Rice (born 1976) with Jane McIntosh.

Father of Donald Rice (born 1978) with Jane McIntosh.

Was working on lyrics for The Lion King (1994) when he was approached at the last minute by Jeffrey Katzenberg to write lyrics for Aladdin (1992) because Aladdin's original lyricist, Howard Ashman, had passed away.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

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