Guy Ritchie biography, net worth, son, children, wife, age, best movies 2025

Guy Ritchie's biography

Guy Ritchie is a director known for action films and crime comedies packed with dark humor and intricate plot lines that weave together like puzzle pieces, delivering audiences that satisfying 'aha!' moment when everything clicks into place. The full-length films Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver, RocknRolla, Sherlock Holmes brought him fame. In the 2000s, the director frequently made tabloid headlines due to his high-profile marriage to pop icon Madonna (2000–2008). Net worth: $150 million.

Childhood and youth

The full name of the director is Guy Stuart Richie. He was born in the English city of Hatfield in September 1968. The boy grew up in a well-off family—which might surprise fans of his gritty films that cultivate his image as a regular bloke from working-class roots.

His father John Ritchie, an ex-Marine, ran an advertising company. His mother Amber Parkinson focused on raising Guy and his older sister Tabitha.

The director has an older half-brother Kevin Baynton, who was born to Amber Parkinson when she was a teenager and given up for adoption in another family. Family lore claimed the Ritchie bloodline traced back to English King Edward I.

Guy's parents divorced when the boy was 5 years old. Soon, Amber married Baronet Michael Leighton, so Guy spent his youth on his stepfather's 17th-century estate until Amber and Michael divorced in 1980.

During his school years, Guy bounced between roughly ten different schools due to his dyslexia. At 15, he was kicked out of Stanbridge Earls School—which specialized in students with learning disabilities—after being caught with drugs, according to Ritchie himself. However, Guy's father claimed his son was actually expelled for chronic truancy and sneaking girls into the boys' dorm.

After this final expulsion, Guy Ritchie dropped out of school entirely (he later earned his diploma through correspondence) and jumped into various jobs: delivering packages, bartending, laying bricks on construction sites, digging trenches. But all the time he dreamed of cinema. "I wanted to become a film director back in school," said Ritchie, "simply because I wasn't good at anything else. We had a directing course that nobody wanted to take, but I signed up—and it hooked me."

Film career

In 1993, the young handyman befriended someone who shot music videos and TV commercials. This connection suggested Ritchie work on a few projects, and after collaborating for a couple of years, Guy gained enough directing experience to shoot his first film in 1995 - a 20-minute short called The Hard Case.

The trailer of Guy Ritchie's first film (The Hard Case)

"When I worked on that short film, I tried to create something that would be quite plausible and at the same time ridiculous," said the director. "I'd seen many times how directors tried to make such movies, but they either turned out too naturalistic, or blood flowed way too extensively. I always wanted to protect the audience from violence. Yes, it exists in my films, but on a much smaller scale than Hollywood blockbusters."

The short film was warmly received, but it wasn't enough to secure funding for a full-length feature, an idea that had already begun forming in the director's mind based on The Hard Case script.

In 1998, after a long search for sponsors, Guy Ritchie finally approached Trudy Styler, wife of singer Sting. She was impressed by The Hard Case and decided to invest in the young director's full-length film with one condition: Sting was assigned a small role of Jay Dee.

Guy Ritchie's directing style

"I saw Guy's short film and really admired its energy. I liked how the director portrayed violence. I hate senseless cruelty. Therefore, I find it much more interesting when violence is only implied, and not depicted on screen" - which was what interested Sting in the young director's emerging style. img#images/content/2017/5/uzn_14948417577.jpg#Jason Statham – Guy Ritchie's friend and favorite actor} And so, after 8 months of filming, audiences were treated to the rollicking crime comedy Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels - a picture that cost the creators just 960 thousand pounds, but literally breathed new life into the genre and created a major stir with mainstream audiences. In addition, the film was a bright debut for Jason Statham, who was included in the cast for realism: in his youth, the actor earned his living the same way as his character from the opening scene.

Young Guy Ritchie and Brad Pitt on the set of the Snatch

The director became the most talked-about figure in Britain's creative scene overnight, and two years later he delighted audiences with a new masterpiece - Snatch, which matched the success of his previous film. This time, funding wasn't an issue - sponsors were practically lining up. There was even enough money for Brad Pitt and Benicio del Toro.

The love story of Guy Ritchie and Madonna

In 2000 Guy Ritchie married Madonna. They met in 1998 when the director, riding high on his first feature's success, showed up at a party hosted by Sting. Madonna, a close friend of the singer's wife, was also there. The director and the pop diva got into a conversation and didn't even notice how the evening passed.

Calling it love at first sight would be wrong - both were already adults with plenty of romantic history behind them. But as they kept in touch after that first meeting, both began to feel drawn to each other. When Guy Ritchie invited Madonna and her daughter Lourdes to London, he gave them a personal tour and charmed them both. That's when their passionate romance truly began.

Guy Ritchie and Madonna began dating in 1999

But their connection went beyond romance - they also collaborated professionally. Ritchie directed Madonna's video for "What It Feels Like for a Girl," and in 2001 he shot a BMW commercial starring the singer.

The BMW commercial starring Madonna by Guy Ritchie

Late in 1999, Madonna announced that she was expecting a child from Guy Ritchie. The director was so thrilled about becoming a father that he fiercely protected his beloved: he wasn't afraid to get physical with paparazzi who bothered her, ran around London at night searching for treats for his pregnant partner, and was so anxious before the birth that he lost several pounds.

On August 11, 2000, their son Rocco was born, and in December, the lovers got married in one of the castles of Scotland. Later, Ritchie, who had always treated Madonna's daughter as his own, officially adopted Lourdes.

Madonna's and Guy Ritchie's wedding (2000)

In 2002, the director released "Swept Away," abandoning his signature crime genre for melodrama and skipping any real casting process by choosing his wife for the lead role - a decision that backfired spectacularly when critics savaged the film. Critics argued that Madonna had no business in serious cinema, and that Ritchie shouldn't have abandoned his signature style just to please his wife. Though he released two commercially successful films during their marriage - "Revolver" (2005) and "RocknRolla" (2008) - unfortunately, neither matched the brilliance of his early work.

After "Swept Away" flopped, industry experts predicted the immediate end of Ritchie's successful career. They also pointed to Madonna's ex-husband Sean Penn, whose marriage to the pop star in the '80s had marked the beginning of his self-destructive phase. But unlike the volatile Penn, Guy Ritchie was always gentle and accommodating, so he endured his wife's ambitions for eight long years, resigned to being known simply as "Madonna's husband" - which is how he appeared in tabloid headlines.

In November 2008 Guy Ritchie and Madonna divorced

Still, they were too different: Madonna maintained a strict healthy lifestyle and disapproved of her husband's bad habits, despite his efforts to transform from a pub regular into a model family man. He was irritated by his wife's devotion to Kabbalah - which would have been fine, except she tried to convert him with an almost obsessive determination. Both wanted a second child, but Madonna chose not to go through pregnancy again and instead adopted David Banda, a boy from Malawi, in 2006. Two years later, on November 21, 2008, Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie announced their divorce.

Career after divorce with Madonna

In 2009 the director shot and presented the picture Sherlock Holmes, which gave his career fresh momentum. The new film adaptation of Conan Doyle's stories could boast of Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock and Jude Law as his partner Dr. Watson. The film was a massive hit - it raked in over a billion dollars worldwide, and therefore a sequel quickly followed – the Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was released in 2011.

Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes made a splash

In 2015, after a very long break, Guy Ritchie presented to the public The Man from U.N.C.L.E. slick comedy about two unlikely partners forced to work together, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). It is known that when writing the script, Guy Ritchie was inspired by the Oscar-winning western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid with Paul Newman and Robert Redford.

In October 2016 the director announced that he had begun work on the third part of Sherlock Holmes.

In 2017 the premiere of the tenth full-length film by Guy Ritchie took place - a pseudo-historical action picture King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

The trailer of Guy Ritchie's picture King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Guy Ritchie's personal life

Despite tabloid jokes about Madonna's ex-husbands being cursed in love, Guy proved them wrong. Since 2010 he lives with an English model, Jacqui Ainsley. The couple welcomed son Rafael on September 5, 2011, their daughter Rivka was born in November 2012 and a boy was born in June 2014 named Levi. The director is a great father; he'd rather spend time with his family than attend Hollywood parties.

The director keeps friendly relations with his firstborn Rocco. In 2016, reports surfaced that Rocco had a falling out with his mother and moved to his father's. Madonna's and Guy Ritchie's son refused to return to his mother's care in America, prompting Madonna to take legal action against her ex-husband.

Guy Ritchie has three children from his second marriage

Months later, Rocco was arrested near Ritchie's home when police found illegal substances on him. His parents' intervention helped him avoid serious charges.

Guy Ritchie has a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a black belt in judo. In addition, he is an ardent fan of Chelsea football club.

An awesome Nike commercial by guy Ritchie

Sometimes Guy Ritchie still shoots ads. So in 2010, he shot a commercial for Dior men's fragrance and also shot a short film for the Nike sportswear brand.

Guy Ritchie nowadays

In 2019, Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin" hit theaters, with the director both helming and scripting the live-action adaptation. The film earned solid critical reception. Ritchie followed up with another hit, "The Gentlemen," starring Matthew McConaughey, which arrived in 2020. In 2021, "Wrath of Man" featuring Jason Statham and Scott Eastwood was set for release.

Guy Ritchie: latest news and articles

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Ryan Wilson

Richie is certainly a cool director, with his own recognizable style, I love and review almost all films. It was interesting to find out about his life :)

2021-05-05 13:37:45
Joshua Davis

I really like films about Sherlock Holmes. Guy Ritchie like no one was able to make a movie from this history for centuries.

2021-04-23 22:18:25
Michele Thomas

Guy Ritchie is good only in his style, in what he has done not for the first time. Therefore, a movie like Aladdin does not «suit» this director.

2021-04-09 11:33:46
Karl Paul

Snatch by Guy Ritchie is just brilliant. Including the cast. RocknRolla for me in the second place.

2021-02-24 13:35:16
Virginia Hanson

I love all movies Ritchie, perhaps only the new Aladdin is not that good, too distracting, well, I do not really like the family fantasy.

2021-02-17 08:15:21

Photos: Guy Ritchie