Biography
Lionel Chetwynd was born in London, England, and relocated to Canada at age eight, growing up in Montreal and Toronto. He left school at 14 and later enlisted in the Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment of Canada. After completing his military service, he was conditionally admitted to Sir George Williams University (now Concordia) in Montreal, where he earned a B.A. with honors in Philosophy and Economics, graduating as valedictorian in three years. He received a scholarship to McGill University Law School and obtained his law degree. During this time, while debating at Oxford University as a champion debater, he was accepted by the University and completed graduate law studies at Trinity College.
Chetwynd then worked for four years at Columbia Pictures' London office. Meanwhile, he began freelance writing and had his first produced play, "Maybe That's Your Problem," staged in London's West End. Later that year, he wrote "Bleeding Great Orchids," which was performed in London and Off-Broadway. While in England, he adapted the screenplay for "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz," earning an Academy Award nomination and winning the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Feature Comedy.
He has since accumulated over 50 feature and long-form television credits, including the Vietnam trilogy: "The Hanoi Hilton," "To Heal a Nation," and "Kissinger and Nixon," as well as the Emmy-nominated "Ike: Countdown to D-Day," which became A&E Networks' highest-rated movie. Additionally, he has written, produced, and directed over 21 documentaries. His accolades include Oscar and Emmy nominations, six Writers Guild of America nominations with one win, the New York Film Festival Gold Medal, two Christophers, two George Washington Freedom Medals, and six Telly Awards.
A naturalized U.S. citizen, Chetwynd wrote "The American 1776," the official United States Bicentennial film. In 1987, he co-created and wrote a tribute to the U.S. Constitution presented during the Bicentennial celebration before members of the U.S. Supreme Court, Congress, and the President’s Cabinet. In 2001, he was appointed to The President's Committee on the Arts & Humanities. Columbia College Hollywood awarded him a Doctor of Humane Letters degree in 2003, and in 2004 he received The Caucus of Television Writers, Producers and Directors Lifetime Achievement Award. He was named an Honorary Fellow at the Carl DeSantis Business and Economics Center for the Study and Development of the Motion Picture and Entertainment Industry in 2006. In 2008, the Smithsonian Institution/National Portrait Gallery presented him the John Singleton Copley Medal for service to the artistic community, and that same year, he received The American Spirit Award from the Caucus for Writers, Producers and Directors in association with the Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild, AFTRA, and WGA. In 2011, he was honored as Writer of the Year by The Caucus.
Civic engagements include membership on the National Sponsoring Committee of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Little League of California District 14, Board of Directors of UCLA Theater, Film and Television Education Associates, past presidency of the American Cinema Foundation, board membership of The Entertainment Industries Council, former executive board member of the American Jewish Committee, as well as involvement with The Oxford Society of Southern California, Trinity Oxford Society, and serving as Captain of the 78th Fraser Highlanders at Fort St Helen Garrison.
He is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and was admitted to the Bar of the Province of Quebec. Chetwynd has taught and lectured extensively at the University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, Columbia College, the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, New York University's graduate Film School, the Frederick Douglass Center in Harlem, and UCLA. His writings have appeared widely in publications such as The Weekly Standard, The National Review, The National Post, Encounter, L'Express, Aujourd'hui, and outlets of The American Enterprise Institute and UCLA Communications Center.
He is married to actress Gloria Carlin and they live in Los Angeles with their two sons. Chetwynd is fluent in French.
