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Biography
John Osborne (1929-1994), the British playwright, had been an actor in a variety of provincial reps before his play, Look Back in Anger, was accepted by George Devine who had just formed the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. The play, which premiered on May 8, 1956, was an outstanding success and was so enthusiastically received by critics that the opening date is often said to have been the start of a revival that changed the face of the British theatre. The central protagonist, Jimmy Porter, has a working-class background and a university education but is unable to find fulfilling employment and so rails against the injustices of British society. Osborne captured the angry and rebellious nature of a dispossessed post-war generation that, like both Osborne and the other young playwrights who rapidly followed him, were labelled ‘angry young men’.
His next play, The Entertainer, presented a portrait of an ageing comic, Archie Rice (brilliantly played by Laurence Olivier), who, with the demise of the variety theatre, had nowhere else to perform but in tatty nude revues. The play was warmly received but, for me, it is a superbly crafted and original work that is by far the best that Osborne wrote. I was fortune enough to see the original production. I went with Sonny Farrer, who had for may years been a musician and comedian. Towards the end of the first act, he began to cry and, at the interval said, ‘I cannot stay. I’ve got to go. It’s all too real.’
Three other successful plays followed: Luther (1961), Inadmissible Evidence (1964) and A Patriot for Me (1965). In these, as in the earlier two plays, Osborne provided a demanding central role that could be played with passion and subtlety. It is not surprising then that all of his first five produced plays have been regularly reviewed. During this golden period, Osborne, in 1963, won an Academy Award for his screenplay for Tom Jones.
George Devine, who had been closely involved with Osborne’s work, died in 1965. It was a tremendous loss to Osborne who was deprived of not only a sympathetic manager but also a close, supportive friend. This may or may not have been the cause but it I certain that the rest of his work was neither as original nor as well constructed as his previous plays. None were commercial successful. They included A Bond Honoured (1966), Time Present (1968), Hotel in Amsterdam (1968), West of Suez (1971) and A Sense of Detachment (1972).
Osborne married five times; Pamela Lane in 1951, actress Mary Ure in 1957, writer Penelope Gilliat in 1966, actress Jill Bennett in 1968, and journalist Helen Dawson, his widow.
| Items for Sale on Collectors' Post |
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| 000102 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | THE HOTEL IN AMSTERDAM (by John Osborne) |
| 012095 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | A PATRIOT FOR ME (by John Osborne) with ALAN BATES |
| 014587 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - post 1939 | LUTHER (by John Osborne) with ALBERT FINNEY |
| 010199 |
Theatre: Playbills | LOOK BACK IN ANGER (by John Osborne) |
| 010516 |
Theatre: Playbills | LUTHER (by John Osborne) with Albert Finney |
| 000557 |
Theatre: Books - Plays | John OSBORNE - 'DÉJÀVU' (1st edition) |
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