Life and Career
Heyman was born in London, England. He is the son of John Heyman, producer of films such as The Go-Between and Jesus, and Norma Heyman, an actress and Oscar-nominated producer of Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs Henderson Presents. His paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants and his mother was English. He went to school in the United States, earning a degree in Art History from Harvard University in 1983.
He got his start in the film industry as a production assistant on David Lean's A Passage to India and in 1986, Heyman became a Creative Executive at Warner Brothers. In the late 80's, he became Vice President of United Artists and subsequently embarked on an independent producing career with his first film, Juice in 1992, followed by the cult "stoner" film The Stoned Age (1994) and others.
In 1997, Heyman returned to London and decided that he would focus on film adaptations of books. He founded his own production company, Heyday Films, and since then produced a number of notable films, including the popular Harry Potter film adaptations, beginning with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and ending with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Part 2. Heyman makes a cameo appearance as a wizard featured in a magical moving portrait on the DVD of the third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
In 2005, Heyman was the executive producer of the CBS television series Threshold, while notable recent productions include the 2007 blockbuster I Am Legend with Will Smith, holocaust drama The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas starring David Thewlis and Yes Man starring Jim Carrey. He has also produced the John Crowley movie Is Anybody There?, starring Michael Caine.
After the Harry Potter films, Heyman is attached to film adaptations of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, directed by Steve Kloves, and Paddington Bear. He is also developing projects with Potter directors Alfonso Cuarón and David Yates. He will produce Cuarón's science-fiction film Gravity and romance story The History of Love, while Yates' war drama, St. Nazaire, is also said to be in the works along with other projects.
Heyman is married to interior designer Rose Uniacke, and they have one son.
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