Playwright, film producer, and actor, born in London, UK. Educated at public school in Devon, he was briefly a copywriter, and he wrote his first plays while working as an actor in repertory theatres. Look Back in Anger (1956, filmed 1958), his first play as sole author, established him as the first of the Angry Young Men, and introduced the character of Jimmy Porter. The Entertainer (1957, filmed 1959), confirmed his position as the leading young exponent of British social drama. Among other works are Luther (1960, filmed 1971), Inadmissible Evidence (1964, filmed 1965), and West of Suez (1971), while Déjàvu (1991) rediscovers Jimmy Porter a generation later. He also wrote the screenplay of Tom Jones (1964, Oscar), and two volumes of outspoken and acerbic autobiography, A Better Class of Person (1981, televised 1985) and Almost a Gentleman (1991).
| A real pro is a real man, all he needs is an old backcloth behind him and he can hold them on his own for half an hour. |
The words are Archie Rice's, though as with much of Osborne's work they could be said to represent his own sentiments, as with this quote from Look Back in Anger:
| Oh, heavens, how I long for a little ordinary human enthusiasm. I'm alive!' |
Following The Entertainer were The World of Paul Slickey (1959) a musical which satirizing the tabloid press, the unusual television documentary play A Subject of Scandal and Concern (1960) and the 1962 double bill Plays for England, comprising "The Blood of the Bambergs" and "Under Plain Covers".
| It is, if you like, the final irony that John's governing love was for a country which is, to say the least, distrustful of those who seem to be both clever and passionate. |
His last play was Déjà Vu (1991), a sequel to Look Back in Anger.
Complete works
| Title | Medium | 1st perf | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Devil Inside | Theatre | 1950 | with Stella Linden |
| The Great Bear | Theatre | 1951 | blank verse, never produced |
| Personal Enemy | Theatre | 1955 | with Anthony Creighton |
| Look Back In Anger | Theatre | 1956 | |
| The Entertainer | Theatre | 1957 | |
| Epitaph for George Dillon | Theatre | 1958 | with Anthony Creighton |
| 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 | |||
| Under Plain Cover | |||
| Tom Jones | Screenplay | 1963 | |
| Inadmissible Evidence | Theatre | 1964 | |
| A Patriot For Me | Theatre | 1965 | |
| A Bond Honoured | Theatre | 1966 | One-act adaptation of Lope de Vega's La fianza satisfecha |
| The Hotel In Amsterdam | Theatre | 1968 | |
| Time Present | Theatre | 1968 | |
| Charge of the Light Brigade | Screenplay | 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 | Ibsen adaptation |
| A Place Calling Itself Rome | Theatre | (1973) | Coriolanus adaptation, unproduced |
| Ms, Or Jill And Jack | TV | 1974 | |
| The End Of Me Old Cigar | Theatre | 1975 | |
| The Picture Of Dorian Gray | Theatre | 1975 | Wilde adaptation |
| Almost A Vision | TV | 1976 | |
| Watch It Come Down | Theatre | 1976 | |
| Try A Little Tenderness | Theatre | (1978) | unproduced |
| Very Like A Whale | TV | 1980 | |
| You're Not Watching Me, Mummy | TV | 1980 | |
| A Better Class Of Person | TV | 1985 | |
| God Rot Tunbridge Wells | TV | 1985 | |
| The Father | Theatre | 1989 | Strindberg adaptation |
| Déjàvu | Theatre | 1992 |
sources: doollee.com and John Osborne: A Patriot for Us by John Heilpern, Chatto &
| John Osborne devoted his life to trying to forge some sort of connection between the acuteness of his mind and the extraordinary power of his heart. |
Osborne did change the world of theatre, influencing playwrights such as Edward Albee and Mike Leigh, however work of his authenticity and originality would remain the exception rather than the rule.
| Let's see: Osborne is on a besieged holiday with his aggrieved mistress while having a passionate affair with his future third wife as the founding artistic director of the Royal Court has a nervous breakdown and his current wife gives birth to a son that isn't his. |
Osborne's vexations with women extended to an extremely cruel relationship with his daughter Nolan, born from his marriage with Penelope Gilliatt.
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