Early life

Ridley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was raised from age 7 in Mequon, Wisconsin, with an ophthalmologist father, John Ridley, III, and a mother, Terry Ridley, who was a special education teacher for Milwaukee Public Schools. He has two sisters and is the middle sibling.

Ridley graduated from Homestead High School in Mequon, Wisconsin in 1982. He enrolled in Indiana University but transferred to New York University.

Career

Following college, Ridley performed standup comedy in New York City, with appearances on a David Letterman late-night talk show and The Tonight Show. Moving to Los Angeles in 1990, he began writing for such television sitcoms as Martin, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The John Larroquette Show.

After both writing and directing his film debut, the 1997 crime thriller Cold Around the Heart, he and Oliver Stone co-adapted Ridley's first novel, Stray Dogs (still unpublished when Stone bought the rights) into the 1997 Stone-directed film U Turn, which was released slightly earlier than Cold Around the Heart. Ridley went on to write the novels Love Is a Racket and Everybody Smokes in Hell. His novel Spoils of War was adapted into the 1999 David O. Russell-directed Three Kings. Ridley's original script was rewritten by Russell and Ridley, with Ridley receiving a "story by" credit negotiated among himself, Russell, and the releasing studio, Warner Bros. Ridley then became a writer and a supervising producer on the NBC crime drama Third Watch. His other novels are The Drift, Those Who Walk in Darkness, and A Conversation with the Mann. He also wrote the graphic novel The American Way.

His work as screenwriter also includes 12 Years a Slave, Red Tails, and Undercover Brother. His script for 12 Years a Slave won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, making Ridley the second African-American to win the award after Geoffrey S. Fletcher (for Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire).

As of April 2015, he was developing an ABC television series involving an existing Marvel Comics character.

Filmography

Movies

Year	Feature film	Credit/Role	Notes
1997	U Turn	Writer
1997	Cold Around the Heart	Writer/Director	Urbanworld Film Festival Jury Prize for Best Director
1999	Three Kings	Writer (Story)	Nominated — Golden Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Nominated — Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay
2002	Undercover Brother	Writer	Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Screenplay
2012	Red Tails	Writer
2013	Jimi: All Is by My Side	Writer/Director
2013	12 Years a Slave	Writer	Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Black Reel Award for Best Screenplay Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Screenplay Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay International Online Film Critics' Poll Award for Best Adapted Screenplay NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted Screenplay San Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted Screenplay St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Nominated — London Film Critics' Circle Award for Best Screenplay Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay Nominated — Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay
2016	Ben-Hur	Writer

Television

Year	TV series	Credit/Role	Notes
1993	Martin	Writer
1994	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Writer
1995	The John Larroquette Show	Writer
1995	The Show	Writer
1998	Team Knight Rider	Writer
1995	Trinity	Writer
1999-2004	Third Watch	Writer
2003	Platinum	Writer/Director
2003	Static Shock	Writer
2004	Justice League	Writer
2005	Barbershop: The Series	Writer
2005	The Wanda Sykes Show	Writer
2015-present	American Crime	Creator/Writer/Director	NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Director in a Drama Series Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries

Works and publications

Novels

• Ridley, John. Stray Dogs. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-345-41345-1
• Ridley, John. Love Is a Racket: A Novel. New York: Knopf, 1998. ISBN 978-0-375-40142-8
• Ridley, John. Everybody Smokes in Hell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1999. ISBN 978-0-375-40143-5
• Ridley, John. A Conversation with the Mann: A Novel. New York: Warner Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-446-52836-8
• Ridley, John. The Drift. New York: Knopf, 2002. ISBN 978-0-375-41182-3
• Ridley, John. Those Who Walk in Darkness. New York: Warner Books, 2003. ISBN 978-0-446-53093-4
• Ridley, John, and Patricia R. Floyd. What Fire Cannot Burn. Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books, 2011, 2007. ISBN 978-1-456-10151-0

Graphic novels

• Ridley, John, and Ben Oliver. The Authority: Human on the Inside. La Jolla, CA: WildStorm Productions, 2004. 978-1-401-20070-1
• Ridley, John. The Razor's Edge: Warblade #5. DC Comics. 2005.
• Ridley, John, Georges Jeanty, and Karl C. Story. The American Way. La Jolla, Calif: WildStorm/DC Comics, 2007. ISBN 978-1-401-21256-8

Stage plays

• Ridley, John. Ten Thousand Years. 2005 (world premiere).

Essays

• Ridley, John. "The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American Nigger." Esquire, December 2006, Volume 146, Issue 6.

Personal life

Ridley is married to wife Gayle, a former script supervisor. They have two children.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]