Bruno Heller Biography

Bruno Heller (born 1960) is an English screenwriter. His most notable works are the television series Rome (HBO) and The Mentalist (CBS). It has been announced he will be creating a TV series based on the Batman character James Gordon called Gotham for FOX.

Life and career

Growing up in London, England, he internalised both the fascination and dread of the craft. His father, the German Jewish immigrant Lukas Heller, was a screenwriter responsible for a couple of Hollywood's films like Hush? Hush, Sweet Charlotte and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. His mother was Caroline (née Carter). She was English and a Quaker and was instrumental in keeping up the Labour Party's "Save London Transport Campaign". Heller credits his father's success with likely keeping him from becoming a writer for many years. Bruno has three siblings. His sister Zoë Heller, columnist and writer, has published three novels, including Notes on a Scandal. Nevertheless, for Bruno writing was something of a last resort.

Before venturing into his writing career, Bruno Heller graduated from The University of Sussex in Brighton. Bruno's early film career was rather unglamorous. He was a union soundman working in England in the 1980s when film sets were staunchly hierarchical. While working as a soundman on a series of films about England's infamous Miners' Strike, Heller met well-regarded Portuguese director Eduardo Guedes. The two teamed up on what would become Heller's first writing credit, the 1994 film Pax starring Amanda Plummer ("Pax" is the acronym for the Portuguese epitaph on gravestones).

Heller left England for New York, where he would meet his wife, Miranda, at a disco. They have two sons. After five years in New York, Heller moved to Los Angeles, where he got work on various television dramas including two television projects for the USA Network: Touching Evil and The Huntress. But his breakthrough came with Rome, which he co-created. After the cancellation of that series for its high costs, Heller created The Mentalist. In September 2012, it was reported that Heller sold a legal drama named The Advocates to CBS, which was written and executive produced by him, but the project finally got a pass in May 2012.

Personal life

In 1993, Heller married Miranda Phillips Cowley, a Senior Vice-President at HBO. Together, they have two sons and currently reside in Los Angeles, California. He also has a house in Cape Cod.

Rome

Heller is probably most associated with the television series Rome, co-produced by HBO and the BBC, which Heller created along with John Milius and William J. MacDonald. In addition to creating the series, Heller is also an executive producer and head writer, penning a total of 11 episodes for the series, including the pilot episode and the series finale.

The series primarily chronicles the lives and deeds of the rich, powerful, and "historically significant", yet it also focuses on the lives, fortunes, families, and acquaintances of two common men: Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo, two Roman soldiers mentioned historically in Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The fictionalised Vorenus and Pullo manage to witness and often influence many of the historical events presented in the series.

Rome episodes

Episodes written by Heller:

Season 1

• "The Stolen Eagle" (pilot)
• "How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic"
• "An Owl in a Thornbush"
• "Stealing from Saturn"
• "The Ram has Touched the Wall"
• "Egeria" (with John Milius)
• "The Spoils"
• "Kalends of February" (Season Finale)

Season 2

• "Passover"
• "Son of Hades"
• "De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)" (Series Finale)

The Mentalist

In 2008, Heller created the hit CBS television series, The Mentalist, with his production company Primrose Hill Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. On 7 January 2009, the show won the award for "Favorite New TV Drama" at the 35th People's Choice Awards and since then, Simon Baker has received several nominations for his portrayal of the lead character, Patrick Jane.

The Mentalist follows Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, an independent consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI) based in Sacramento, California. He has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his amazing skills of observation. Jane also makes frequent use of his mentalist abilities and his semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium using paranormal abilities he now admits he feigned. He abandoned his pretense out of remorse when his attention-seeking behaviour attracted the attention of a serial killer named Red John who killed his wife and daughter.

The Mentalist episodes

Episodes written by Heller:

Season 1

• "Pilot"
• "Red Hair and Silver Tape"
• "Red John's Friends"
• "Carnelian, Inc."
• "Red John's Footsteps" (Season Finale)

Season 2

• "Redemption"
• "Black Gold and Red Blood"
• "Code Red"
• "Red Sky in the Morning" (Season Finale)

Season 3

• "Red Sky at Night"
• "Red Moon"
• "Strawberries and Cream (Part 2)" (Season Finale)

Season 4

• "Scarlet Ribbons"
• "Cheap Burgundy" (Writer/Director)
• "The Crimson Hat" (Season Finale)

Season 5

• "The Crimson Ticket"
• "Red John's Rules" (Season Finale)

Season 6

• "The Desert Rose"
• "Red John"