English playwright, screenwriter and actor, John Osborne was introduced to the world of theatre when he took up a job with a touring company of juvenile actors. He started acting himself and also took to playwriting. In 1950, he wrote his first play, ‘The Devil Inside Him’, together with his friend and mentor Stella Linden. After this, he co-wrote ‘Personal Enemy’ with Anthony Creighton in 1955. However, it was his 1956 play ‘Look Back in Anger’ that really catapulted him to fame. It revolutionised the English theatre and won him the ‘Evening Standard Drama Award’ as the most promising playwright of the year. The following year, another of his play ‘The Entertainer’ found success. Both ‘Look Back in Anger’ and ‘The Entertainer’ were turned into films with the former, starring Richard Burton and Mary Ure, releasing in 1959 and the latter, starring Laurence Olivier, Brenda De Banzie and Roger Livesey, coming out in 1960.
John Osborne continued his writing and wrote plays ‘Epitaph for George Dillon’ (1958, with Anthony Creighton), ‘The World Of Paul Slickey’ (1959), ‘Luther’ (1961), ‘The Blood of the Bambergs’ (1962) and ‘Under Plain Cover’ (1963). The Broadway production of ‘Luther’ won him a ‘Tony Award’. He also wrote a television documentary play ‘A Subject of Scandal and Concern’ in 1960 and in 1963 wrote the screenplay for the film adaption of Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel ‘The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,’. The comedy film ‘Tom Jones’ received positive reviews from critics and was also a commercial success. John Osborne, himself received awards at the ‘Academy Awards, USA’ (Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium), ‘BAFTA Film Awards’ (Best British Screenplay) and ‘Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award’ (Best British Comedy Screenplay). He next wrote (uncredited) the screenplay for the historical war drama film ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ (1968).
He continued writing and wrote for TV series 'Play for Today' (1970; episode: 'The Right Prospectus') and 'ITV Playhouse' (episodes: 'The Gift of Friendship' – 1974 and 'You're Not Watching Me, Mummy' – 1979) as well as for television movies like ‘Almost A Vision’ (1976) ‘Very Like a Whale’ (1980), ‘A Better Class of Person’ (1985) and ‘God Rot Tunbridge Wells!’ (1985). Some of his theatre writing works include ‘Inadmissible Evidence’ (1964), ‘A Patriot for Me’ (1965), ‘The Hotel in Amsterdam’ (1968), ‘West of Suez’ (1971), ‘A Sense of Detachment’ (1972), ‘The End of Me Old Cigar’ (1975) and ‘Déjàvu’ (1992).
John Osborne’s significant work as an actor were in films ‘First Love’ (1970, role: Maidanov), ‘Get Carter’ (1971; role: Cyril Kinnear), ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ (1978; role: Lyne) and ‘Flash Gordon’ (1980; role: Arborian Priest) as well as in the short film ‘The Chairman's Wife’ (1971; role: Bernard Howe). He acted in the television movie ‘The First Night of Pygmalion’ (1969; role: Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree) and narrated another television movie ‘A Better Class of Person’ (1985). Earlier, his acting work on television included a couple of episodes each in series ‘Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School’ (1952; role: Wingate - Prefect) and ‘BBC Sunday-Night Theatre’ (1955; role: Military Recruit) as well as an episode each in ‘Robin Hood’ (1953), ‘Thirty-Minute Theatre’ (1966), ‘Half Hour Story’ (1968) and ‘Supernatural’ (1977).
