John Osborne (12 December, 1929-24 December, 1994) was an influential British screenwriter, playwright and activist.
Fun Facts about John Osborne:
1. John James Osborne was born in London, England to Thomas Godfrey Osborne, an advertising professional, and Nellie Beatrice Grove, a barmaid.
2. When he was six years old, the family moved out of London to a Stoneleigh, a suburb southwest of London. For the rest of his life, Mr. Osborne considered it a cultural desert full of boring people. In fairness, it was said that he was an indifferent, self-absorbed fellow.
3. In 1940, Thomas Osborne passed away. The insurance paid out allowing his son to be educated at Belmont College in 1943. By 1945 he was expelled for fighting.
4. Out of college and out of work, John Osborne returned to London to try his luck as a journalist but became involved in theatre. First as a stage manager, then as an actor and eventually as a playwright.
5. Pamela Lane married John Osborne in 1951. The couple lived in Derby, in a very small home. Pamela was not a faithful wife and cheated on him with a local dentist.
6. The 1956 play Look Back in Anger, which was based on the couples’ living conditions and arguments was written in 17 days, while on tour.
7. Around the time the play came out, Mr. Osborne decided to become a vegetarian, an unusual step at the time.
8. The play was not well received or reviewed. Nevertheless, today it’s considered to be an outstanding example of post-war of English theatre.
9. By the 1960s, such greats of English theatre such as Sir Laurence Olivier who saw the play when Arthur Miller, visiting his wife Marilyn Monroe who was performing with Olivier, requested as much. When they went backstage to mee Mr. Osborne (who’s going to stop them?), Olivier asked him to be part of his next play, The Entertainer.
10. By 1957 his marriage to Lane was failing and the couple was divorced due to his infidelity (even though it was later revealed they both had affairs and had affairs with each other after their divorce). He married academy award nominated actress Mary Ure (who let him for Robert Shaw). Mr. Osborne married another actress, Jill Bennett but their marriage was filled with cruelty and open contempt to each other. His last marriage to Helen Dawson was the happiest and lasted until his death.
Zohar — Man of la Book
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Sources:
John Osborne | Wikipedia
John Osborne | Biography & Look Back in Anger | Britannica
John Osborne: a natural dissenter who changed the face of British theatre | The Guardian
