Brian Clark (writer)
Brian Clark (born 2 June 1932) is a British playwright and television writer, best known for his play Whose Life Is It Anyway?, which he later adapted into a screenplay.
Brian Clark | |
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Born | Bournemouth, Bournemouth, England, United Kingdom | 2 June 1932
Occupation | Playwright, screenwriter |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | Central School of Speech and Drama University of Nottingham |
Period | 1970–present |
Notable awards | Society of West End Theaters Award (1978) |
Biography
Clark was born in Bristol, United Kingdom, the son of a blacksmith. Clark was educated at the University of Nottingham. He married Maggie Clark, his first wife, and raised two sons. Clark has taught in schools, colleges and universities and was a member of the Drama Department at the University of Hull from 1968 - 1972.
In 1970, he sold a television play, Rubber? Some years after its television production, he adapted the script for the stage. The reworked version won a Society of West End Theaters Award in 1978. Later that year, he brought the play to the United States, first at the Folger in Washington, D.C., followed by its Broadway debut the following year.[1] In 1975 he wrote Whose Life is it Anyway a play exploring the theme of assisted suicide. Clark subsequently adapted the piece into a film released in 1981.
Clark has written other television plays including Easy Go, Operation Magic Carpet, The Saturday Party, and The Country Party. Telford's Change (1979), about an international banker downsizing to being a branch manager, is a television series featuring Peter Barkworth. Clark wrote the first episode of All Creatures Great and Small (1978).
Clark has also written Group Theatre, published in 1971 by Theatre Arts Books, in which he summarizes the group theatre movement and outlines three approaches to group theatre.
Clark currently lives in Brighton with his second wife a writer and therapist. Clark was the founder of Amber Press Publishers.
Awards and nominations
- 1978 Society of West End Theaters Award for ‘’Whose Life Is It Anyway?’’[1]
- 1979 Selection, The Burns Mantle Theatre Yearbook, The Best Plays of 1978-1979 for ‘’Whose Life Is It Anyway?’’[1]
- 1979 Tony Award nominee, Best Play for ‘’Whose Life Is It Anyway?’’[2]
References
- Guernsey Jr. (Ed.), Otis L. (1979). The Best Plays of SIEBEN. New York & Toronto: Dodd, Mead & Company. pp. 298–314. ISBN 0-396-07723-4.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- "Brian Clark". New York, New York: Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 6 December 2009.