Anthony Minghella

has passed away at the age of 54 .

Very sad. Best known for The English Patient , for which he won a Best Director Oscar, Minghella directed a film on a much smaller scale that I much preferred, Mr. Wonderful . No great masterpiece, but if you came from a working-class Italian-American background, it definitely had its charms.

Minghella was busy most recently filming one of the segments of New York, I Love You . This anthology made the press a few days ago when one of its actors, Abe Karpen, a 25-year-old Hasid, had to pull out when his Orthodox community became outraged at his participation, especially given that Karpen, the father of three, was to play Natalie Portman’s husband, with all the, um, onscreen affection such a role entails.

Minghella, the son of Italian immigrants to England, started out with a robust playwriting career. He also contributed to the Inspector Morse BBC series.

He had just finished directing an adaptation of Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency , co-written with Richard Curtis of Mr. Bean/Blackadder/Four Weddings and a Funeral fame.

Minghella, obviously, was a man of many talents who has has left the stage much too soon. Expect many a tribute from the people he worked with.

Update: It seems Minghella suffered a hemorrhage after surgery for a growth on his neck. (One European paper reports it was cancer of the neck and tonsils .)