John Osborne
Leading 20th century English playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter.- Full Name: 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 |
| Déjà vu | Theatre | 1992 |
Media Gallery:
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>.
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