Childhood: Jarman's father was a New Zealander who had a career in the RAF, and so his childhood was spent at a succession of RAF bases, including RAF Merryfield in Somerset. Jarman and his family moved to Italy for a while. They then went with his father when he was also posted to India and was then seconded to establish the Pakistan Air Force after independence in 1947.

Education: Jarman completed a degree in history, English and art at King's College London. He then studied painting at the Slade School, London (1963-67).

Work: Jarman exhibited in the Young Contemporaries at the Tate Gallery in 1967, and he had a one-man show at the Lisson Gallery in 1968. He also had his work exhibited at the John Moores exhibition. Jarman then moved into costume and set design for the Royal Ballet. However, the poor reception of his designs for the ENO Don Giovanni at the Coliseum in 1968 led to him to moving away from this type of work and he was as production designer for Ken Russell's The Devils, (1970).
Jarman began making his own films with Sebastiane in 1976. This was in Latin having met a young american student , Jack Welch, studying Greats as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, who could do the translation for him. Jarman transferred his painterly skills to the cinema as he also directed pop videos and continued to design for the opera and ballet.
On 22nd. December 1986 Derek Jarman was diagnosed as HIV positive, and he revealed his condition a month later. He became one of the few public figure to talk openly about his own AIDS illness.

Films: The Devils, (set designer only), 1971. Studio Bankside, (short), 1971. Miss Gaby, (short), 1971. A Journey To Avebury, (short), 1971. Savage Messiah, (set designer only), 1972. Broken English, (short), 1972. Garden of Luxor, (short), 1972. Andrew Logan Kisses The Glitterati, (short), 1972. Tarot, (short), 1972. The Art Of Mirrors, 1973. Building The Pyramids, 1973. Ula's Fête, (short), 1975. Picnic At Ray's, (short), 1975. Sebastiane Wrap, (short), 1975. Gerald's Film, (short), 1976. Sloane Square, (short), 1976. A Room Of One's Own, (short), 1976. Houston Texas, (short), 1976. Sebastiane, 1976. Jordan's Dance, (short), 1977. Every Woman For Herself And All For Art, (short), 1977. Jubilee, 1977. (Ian Charleson plays an Angel.). Nighthawks, (actor only), 1978. The Tempest, 1979. T G - Psychic Rally In Heaven, (short), 1981. The Dream Machine, (short), 1982. Waiting For Waiting For Godot, (short), 1982. Imagine October, (short), 1984. Angelic Conversations, (short), 1985. Caravaggio, 1986. Ranked at 93rd. position among 'British' films by the British Film Institute survey in 1999. Prick Up Your Ears, (actor only), 1987, (biography of Joe Orton ). Ostia, (actor only), 1987. Aria, (co-director), 1987. The Last of War Requiem, 1988. The Garden, 1990. Edward II, 1991. Wittgenstein, 1993. Glitterbug, 1994. Blue, 1993. Received an Honourable Mention from the 1994 Stockholm Film Festival.

Writing: Dancing Ledge, autobiographical book, 1984, Quartet. Caravaggio, Thames & Hudson. Kicking the Pricks, Vintage (The book to go with the film The Last of England.). War Requiem, the screenplay to go with the film of the same name, Faber. Modern Nature, autobiographical book, 1991, Vintage. Chroma, Vintage. At Your Own Risk: A Saint's Testament, 1993, London: Hutchinson, ISBN 0-87951-473-6, 154 pages. Smiling in Slow Motion, edited by Kevin Collins, 2000, published by Century, 288 pages. England, 1987. Received the Independent/Experimental Film or Video Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in 1988. Cactus Land, (actor only), 1988. Derek Jarman: You Know What I Mean, (actor only), 1988.

Friends & Relationships: Being at the heart of the artistic life of Britain for most of his life he knew everyone. At the Tyneside Film festival in 1987 he met Kevin Collins who was then 21. He had recently graduated and was writing software for the Government. He had been brought up in a village near Newcastle by parents who were socialists and devout Methodists. Derek Jarman pursued Kevin Collins by letter and within a few months Kevin Collins went to London and moved in with Derek Jarman. They both were committed campaigners with OutRage!. Kevin Collins nursed Derek Jarman for the final seven years of his life.
On 22nd. September, 1991 Derek Jarman was canonised by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as St. Derek of Dungeness of the Order of Celluloid Knights. In 1992 he received the Malcolm Balcon Award from the British Academy. He died of an AIDS-related illness.

Greatest Achievement: Sebastiane

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