Guy Ritchie was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK on September 10, 1968. After watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) as a child, Guy realized that what he wanted to do was make films. He never attended film school, saying that the work of film school graduates was boring and unwatchable. At 15 years old, he dropped out of school and in 1995, got a job as a runner, ultimately starting his film career. He quickly progressed and was directing music promos for bands and commercials by 1995.

The profits that he made from directing these promos was invested into writing and making the film The Hard Case (1995), a 20-minute short film that is also the prequel to his debut feature Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, saw The Hard Case (1995) and invested in the feature film. Once completed, 10 British distributors turned the film down before it eventually was released in the UK in 1998 and in the US in 1999; the film put Ritchie on the map as one of the hottest rising filmmakers of the time, and launched the careers of actors Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng, and Vinnie Jones, among others.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) was followed by Snatch (2000), this time with a bigger budget and a few more familiar faces such as Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina, Benicio Del Toro alongside returning actors Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones and Jason Flemyng. At the end of 2000, Ritchie married the pop superstar Madonna in Scotland, and proceeded to work with his famous wife on a variety of film and video projects, including the short Star (2001), made for BMW and co-starring Clive Owen, and the controversial video "What It Feels Like for a Girl," which was called out for its violence. In 2002, the couple embarked on a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller film Swept Away (2002); the new film was a critical and commercial flop, winning five Razzie Awards. Ritchie followed up with the Vegas heist film Revolver (2005), which was panned, but won favor with the crime thriller RocknRolla (2008), which featured a game, energetic cast and brought American attention to rising stars Gerard Butler and Tom Hardy.

The next year saw the release of Sherlock Holmes (2009), starring Robert Downey Jr. in the title role and Jude Law as his cohort Dr. Watson. The film received mostly good reviews but, more important for Ritchie's career, was a solid blockbuster hit that grossed more than $520 million dollars worldwide and spawned a sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). Ritchie is tentatively scheduled to direct an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Ritchie has two sons with Madonna: Rocco, born in 2000, and an adopted son, David, born in 2005. In late 2008, the couple confirmed reports that they were splitting up, and agreed to a divorce settlement that was finalized in December of that year. In September 2011, Ritchie's girlfriend, model Jacqui Ainsley, gave birth to a son, Rafael, and in July 2012 the couple announced they were expecting their second child.

Jacqui Ainsley (30 July 2015 - present) ( 3 children)

Trivia

His first child with Madonna, a son, Rocco John, was born by emergency C-section three weeks early. [August 2000]
Is dyslexic.
Dropped out of school when he was 15.
During the MTV Movie Awards, Will Smith arrived on a horse to perform the song from Wild Wild West (1999) and the horse accidentally stepped on Guy's foot, injuring him.
Stepmother, Shireen Ritchie, is chairwoman of the ultra-chic Kensington and Chelsea Conservative Association (UK).
Holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Former brother-in-law of Christopher Ciccone, Martin Ciccone, and Paula Ciccone., Anthony Ciccone, Melanie Ciccone, Mario Ciccone, and Jennifer Ciccone.
Was first introduced to his wife Madonna by Sting & Trudie Styler at their country estate. Sting was later made godfather of their first-born son, Rocco Ritchie.
He and wife Madonna adopted a boy from Malawi, David Banda Mwale Ciccone Ritchie (born September 24, 2005). They filed the adoption papers on October 10, 2006, and the adoption was finalized on May 28, 2008.
Godmother of his son Rocco is Trudie Styler.
Gwyneth Paltrow was the maid of honor at his wedding to Madonna.
Matthew Vaughn was best man at his wedding to Madonna.
Parents divorced when he was 5 years old.
After months of speculation, he and Madonna announced their separation. [October 2008]
Godfather of his son David is Rupert Everett.
Former stepfather of Lourdes Leon.
Father, with Madonna, of Rocco Ritchie.
Former son-in-law of Silvio Ciccone.
Robbie Williams' song, "She's Madonna," is about him and how he broke up with his former partner to be with Madonna.
He and Jacqui Ainsley had a son, Rafael Ritchie, on September 5, 2011. He was delivered via emergency caesarean section.

I can understand that the whole world is interested in my wife. That's even why I married her.
We are not that flash, me or the missus. In fact, we are quite low-maintenance.
I am relatively familiar with getting a good old rumping from the critics. In some cases, the critics just didn't like the film - fair cop. Others, I think, didn't understand it.
I'm not politically motivated. I used to be - passionately. I used to be very Left wing. Then I went very Right wing, and now I rest somewhere in the middle.
The English countryside is the most staggeringly beautiful place. I can't spend as much time there as I like, but I like everything about it. I like fishing, I like clay- pigeon shooting. I am not involved in any 'issues' because it's too sensitive for me - or my wife - to get involved. Every time we express an opinion it becomes a whole thing in itself. And the whole purpose of living in the countryside was to get away from hundreds of people. My wife fell off a horse, and suddenly there are hundreds of people around.
I'd like to work with the missus, but there's nothing in the pipeline at the moment.
As I get more and more involved in the child's world with Rocco [his son] I'm getting interested in making a film for children.
[working with wife Madonna] Creatively, we like the same sort of things, so it just makes sense to work together.
[on claims by Madonna's brother that he's homophobic] You'd be hard pushed to be a homophobe and marry Madonna!
[on being shocked by Charlie Hunnam's physique for King Arthur] He never seems to carry more than 6% body fat. When he first took his top off, I was horrified. Usually I have to work with actors and they take their top off and I'm horrified in the wrong way. But Charlie walked in all pleased with himself with his 26-pack ready to rumble.
[on his star Charlie Hunnam's fitness level] He's always in good shape. I don't know if you have seen him today but I can tell you that there's more fat on a chip [British food item] than there is on that boy.