March 9, 2015

John Osborne

Leading 20th century English playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter.
  • Full Name: John Osborne
    John Osborne
  • Birth Name: John James Osborne
  • Birth: December 12, 1929
  • Place of Birth:London, England, United Kingdom
  • Death: December 24, 1994
  • Place of Death: Clun, Shropshire, England, United Kingdom
  • Cause of Death: Complications of Diabetes
  • Buried: St. George Churchyard in Clun, Shropshire, England
  • Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
  • Nationality: English
  • Height: 6 ft
  • Father: Thomas Godfrey Osborne
  • Mother: Nellie Beatrice Grove Osborne
  • Siblings: NA
  • Spouse:
-Pamela Lane (1951–1957)
-Mary Ure (1957–1963)
-Penelope Gilliatt (1963–1968)
-Jill Bennett (1968–1977)
-Helen Dawson (1978–till Osborne’s demise)
  • Number of Children: 1 daughter: Nolan Osborne
  • Education: Bellmont College
  • Known for: initiating the “Angry Young  Man” movement in British drama
  • Criticised for: the ornate violence of his language against his family members
  • Influences: Bertolt Brecht, Max Miller, Kingsley Amis
  • Influenced: Joe Orton, Edward Albee, Mike Leigh

Quote:

“I want people to see life through my mirror, to feel my image. If it gets as far as that, if they feel, then I've made my contribution. What they do with those feelings afterwards is somebody else's business. Politicians.Journalists.Those sort of people.”John Osborne

Major Works:

Title Type Year
The Devil Inside Him Theatre 1950
The Great Bear Theatre 1951
Personal Enemy Theatre 1955
Look Back in Anger Theatre 1956
The Entertainer Theatre 1957
Epitaph for George Dillon Theatre 1958
The World Of Paul Slickey Theatre 1959
A Subject of Scandal and Concern TV 1960
Luther Theatre 1961
Plays for England Theatre 1962
The Blood of the Bambergs Theatre 1962
Under Plain Cover Theatre 1962
Tom Jones Screenplay 1963
Inadmissible Evidence Theatre 1964
A Patriot for Me Theatre 1965
A Bond Honoured Theatre 1966
The Hotel In Amsterdam Theatre 1968
Time Present Theatre 1968
The Charge of the Light Brigade Screenplay 1968
The Parachute TV 1968
The Right Prospectus TV 1970
West of Suez Theatre 1971
A Sense Of Detachment Theatre 1972
The Gift Of Friendship TV 1972
Hedda Gabler Theatre 1972
A Place Calling Itself Rome Theatre 1973
Ms, Or Jill And Jack TV 1974
The End Of Me Old Cigar Theatre 1975
The Picture Of Dorian Gray Theatre 1975
Almost A Vision TV 1976
Watch It Come Down Theatre 1976
Try A Little Tenderness Theatre 1978
Very Like A Whale TV 1980
You're Not Watching Me, Mummy TV 1980
A Better Class of Person Book 1981
A Better Class of Person TV 1985
God Rot Tunbridge Wells TV 1985
The Father Theatre 1989
Almost a Gentleman Book 1991
Déjàvu Theatre 1992

Media Gallery:


John Osborne

John Osborne

John Osborne

John Osborne

John Osborne

John Osborne and Jill Bennett in 1969

Jill Bennett at their wedding in 1968

Osborne and Mary Ure in August 1957

Osborne, Mary Ure, Vivien Leigh and Olivier

 

Did you know?

  • John Osborne’s father was a copywriter, and his mother was a Cockney barmaid.
  • Osborne’s father died in 1941 when he was only 11 years old.
  • Osborne's first important work, The Devil inside Him was performed in 1950.
  • With his Look Back in Anger (1956), John Osborne changed the face of the British Theatre.
  • Look Back in Anger established Osborne as a leading writer for the British Theatre.
  • Look Back in Anger was the first well-known example of "Kitchen Sink Drama".
  • In 1963, Osborne secured an Academy Award for his screenplay for Tom Jones (1963).
  • Osborne had countless affairs over the course of his life.
  • He was married five times.
  • Osborne frequently mistreated his wives and lovers.
  • Nolan was Osborne’s only offspring by his third wife Penelope Gilliatt.
  • Osborne had an abusive relationship with his daughter: he cast her out of his house when she was seventeen; they never spoke again.
  • Osborne remained angry until the end of his life.
  • It is said that many women fell in love with Osborne being attracted to his anger!
  • The suicide of his fourth wife, Jill Bennett is generally believed to have been a result of Osborne's rejection of her.
  • Despite the great success of his early plays, Osborne was in debt at the time of his death.



References

“John Osborne Biography.”Bio.com. 2015. Television Networks, LLC. 5 March 2015
<http://www.biography.com/people/john-osborne-38511>.

“John Osborne Facts.”Your Dictionary. 2015. LoveToKnow. 5 March 2015
<http://biography.yourdictionary.com/john-osborne>.

“John Osborne.”New World Encyclopedia. 2015. New World Encyclopedia. 5 March 2015
<http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/John_Osborne>.

“John Osborne.”Wikipedia. 2015. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 5 March 2015
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Osborne>.

March 4, 2015

Herman Melville

19th century American novelist, poet and writer of short story, who is remembered mostly for his novel Moby-Dick or, The Whale.
  • Full Name: Herman Melville
    Herman Melville
  • Pseudonyms: L.A.V.; Salvator R. Tarnmoor
  • Birth: August 01,1819
  • Place of Birth: New York City, USA
  • Zodiac Sign: Leo
  • Nationality: American
  • Death: September 28, 1891
  • Cause of Death: Unknown
  • Buried at: He is buried beside his wife in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx
  • Father: Allan Melvill (1782–1832)
  • Mother: Maria Gansevoort Melvill (1791–1872)
  • Siblings:
    • Brother: Gansevoort Melville (1815-1846)
    • Sister: Helen Maria Melville Griggs (1817-1888)
    • Sister: Augusta Melville (1821-1876)
    • Brother: Allan Melville (1823-1872)
    • Sister: Catherine Gansevoort Melville Hoadley (1825-1905)
    • Sister: Frances Priscilla Melville (1827-1885)
    • Brother: Thomas Melville (1830-1884)
  • Spouse: Elizabeth Knapp Shaw (1822–1906)
  • Children:
    •  Son: Malcolm Melville (1849-1867)
    •  Son: Stanwix Melville (1851-1886)
    •  Daughter: Elizabeth Melville (1853-1908)
    •  Daughter: Frances Melville (1855-1938)
  • Known for: his ability to probe deep into the human psyche
  • Allegation: NA
  • Influenced: William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, Jorge Luis Borges, D. H. Lawrence, Cornel West
  • Influences: William Shakespeare, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Thomas Carlyle, Luís de Camões

Quote:

"With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me." Herman Melville, Moby-Dick or, The Whale

Major Works:

Novels
Title of Novel Published
Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life 1846
Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas 1847
Mardi: And a Voyage Thither 1849
Redburn: His First Voyage 1849
White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War 1850
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale 1851
Pierre: or, The Ambiguities 1852
Isle of the Cross 1853(?)
Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile 1855
The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade 1857
Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative) 1924

Short Story

Title of Short Story Published
"Bartleby, the Scrivener" 1853
"Cock-A-Doodle-Doo!" 1853
"The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles" 1854
"Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's Crumbs" 1854
"The Happy Failure" 1854
"The Lightning-Rod Man" 1854
"The Fiddler" 1854
"The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids" 1855
"The Bell-Tower" 1855
"Benito Cereno" 1855
"Jimmy Rose" 1855
"The 'Gees" 1856
"I and My Chimney" 1856
"The Apple-Tree Table" 1856
"The Piazza" 1856
"The Two Temples" 1924
"Daniel Orme" 1924

Did You Know?

  • Melville was the third of eight children.
  • Melville Married Elizabeth Shaw in 1847.
  • His masterpiece Moby Dick (1851) was a commercial failure but it became a masterpiece posthumously.
  • After his father’s death, Melville’s mother supplemented the “e” at the end of the family name.
  • Melville's writing was greatly influenced from his travels at sea.
  • His father was a successful importer of dry goods.
  • When Melville was 12, his father entered into bankruptcy and died suddenly.
  • After his father’s death Melville worked in his uncle’s farm, clerked in a local bank, and taught at local schools to support his family.
  • Melville was not financially successful as a writer, having earned just over $10,000 for his writing during his lifetime.
  • When Melville deceased, his death was noted in only one local newspaper.
  • Melville was aligned with the greatest American writers after his demise (not until 20th century).




References

 “Herman Melville.” Wikipedia. 2015. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 4 March 2015
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville>.

 “Herman Melville.” Shmoop. 2015. Shmoop University. 4 March 2015
< http://www.shmoop.com/herman-melville/family.html>.

“Herman Melville.” Biography.com. 2015. Bio and the Bio. 4 March 2015
< http://www.biography.com/people/herman-melville-9405239>.

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