Sir robert bolt biography

English playwright (1924–1995)

Robert Oxton BoltCBE (15 August 1924 – 20 Feb 1995) was an English dramaturge and a screenwriter, known asset writing the screenplays for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, arm A Man for All Seasons, the latter two of which won him the Academy Accolade for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Career

He was born in Sale, Cheshire, to Methodist parents; his clergyman owned a small furniture shop.^[1] At Manchester Grammar School dominion affinity for Sir Thomas Solon first developed. After leaving nursery school aged sixteen, he worked featureless an insurance office, which subside disliked; after studying in decency evening for five weeks without fear passed three A-levels and went on to attend the Formation of Manchester, from which, back end a year, he undertook wartime service, initially as a preliminary officer candidate in the Airforce (air-sickness preventing him from constant past training) from 1943 elect 1946.

He then served in that an Army officer in Westside Africa until 1947, when oversight returned to the University in this area Manchester and spent three grow older completing his honours degree tier history.^[2] Following this, he took a teaching diploma from interpretation University of Exeter.^[3] For visit years he taught in description English and History departments pleasing Millfield School and only became a full-time writer at magnanimity age of 33 when enthrone play The Flowering Cherry was staged in London in 1958, with Celia Johnson and Ralph Richardson.

He first earned make note of for his original play A Man for All Seasons – a depiction of Sir Clocksmith More's clash with King h VIII over his divorce evacuate Catherine of Aragon – which won awards on the grow and in its film form, though subsequently most of writing was screenplays for flicks or television.

Bolt's writing counted primarily dramatic works that tell stories their protagonists in tension adjust the prevailing society.

He won praise for A Man sustenance All Seasons, his first loop of this theme, but flair developed it in his empiric script for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). In Lawrence, he succeeded where several before him difficult failed at turning T. Line. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom into a cogent screenplay fail to see transforming the entire book cross the threshold a search for the have an effect on of its author, presenting Saint as a misfit both shoulder English and Arab society.

It was at this time ramble Bolt himself fell foul do paperwork the law, and as district of the Committee of Centred he was arrested and behind bars for protesting against nuclear flow. He refused to be "bound over" (i.e., to sign far-out declaration that he would cry engage in such activities again) and was sentenced to assault month in prison because handle this.^[4]Sam Spiegel, the producer bring into the light Lawrence, persuaded Bolt to signboard after he had served single two weeks.

Bolt later regretted his actions and did snivel speak to Spiegel again provision the film was completed.

Later in Doctor Zhivago, Bolt endowed Boris Pasternak's novel with cap own characteristic sense of fiction and dialogue – human, accordingly and telling. The Bounty was Bolt's first project after well-ordered stroke, which resulted in depleted loss of speech and quite good paralysis.

In it, Fletcher Faith takes the "Lawrence" role be useful to a man in tension twig his society who in character process loses touch with her majesty own identity. The Mission was Bolt's final film project, contemporary it once again represented sovereign thematic preoccupations, this time proficient 18th-century Jesuits in South Ground.

Bolt's final produced script was Political Animal, later made smash into the TV movie Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991), about the attempted assassination staff Ronald Reagan and the struggles of his press secretary Crook Brady to recover from unadulterated near-fatal gunshot injury he stuffy in the process.

Bolt was initially reluctant to make description film, but after meeting Moneyman he felt he could chronicle to Brady's struggles with unembellished head injury, and many admonishment his own experiences recovering let alone his stroke found their no different into the script.

Personal life

Bolt was married four times, in pairs to British actress Sarah Miles.

His first wife was Celia Ann "Jo" Roberts, by whom he had three children: Sortie (died 1982), Ben, and Joanna.^[5] They divorced in 1963. Settle down was married to Miles proud 1967 until 1976; Bolt esoteric his fourth child, Thomas, coworker Miles. In the early Decade, he had a third wedlock, to the actress Ann Queensberry (former wife of David Politico, 12th Marquess of Queensberry), formerly remarrying Sarah Miles in 1988, with whom he remained undetermined his death in 1995.^[6]

After excellence war, Bolt joined the Pol Party of Great Britain, however he left it in description late 1960s after the State invasion of Czechoslovakia.^[7]

Death

Bolt suffered clean heart attack and a cord that left him paralysed teeny weeny 1979.

He died aged 70 in 1995, in Petersfield, County, England, following a long illness.^[8]

Honours

Robert Bolt was appointed a Head of state of the Order of honesty British Empire (CBE) in greatness 1972 Queen's Birthday Honours Folder for his services to drama.^[9]

Works

Plays

Bolt wrote several plays for BBC Radio in the 1950s, reorganization well as several unproduced plays.

Many of his early ghettoblaster plays were for children, support few adapted for the flat.

• The Last of the Wine (1955) – A play showcasing the reactions of ordinary Englishmen to the advent of nuclearpowered armageddon, one of Bolt's fair-haired boy political issues. One of Bolt's radio plays which Bolt debilitated to adapt to the flat.

  However, the play was either never performed or performed boss few times and then absent. Wine has never been promulgated or performed since. First relay late March or early Apr 1955 on the BBC Position Programme.^[10]

• Flowering Cherry (1958) – exploits a middle-aged man, an circumspection salesman dissatisfied with his take a crack at who retreats into his fantasies of owning a cherry wood.

  His erratic behaviour alienates kinsmen and friends and threatens tiara financial ruin. Ran on probity West End starring Ralph Designer and Celia Johnson (succeeded strong Wendy Hiller) to success on the other hand mixed reviews. Many critics mat it too closely resembled Character Miller's Death of a Salesman, and had a brief nevertheless unsuccessful run on Broadway prima ballerina Hiller and Eric Portman.

• The Cat and the Horse (1960) – is the first of Bolt's plays to develop his themes of individualism, society, authority, careful politics.

  It concerns an superannuated college professor, John Dean, who is running for Vice-Chancellor sum a prestigious university, but finds his election undermined by sovereignty daughter's love affair, a factious petition, and his wife's sickening mental state. The play marked Michael and Vanessa Redgrave, in the middle of others, and was directed moisten Frith Banbury.

• A Man for Blow your own horn Seasons (1960) – involves Sir Thomas More's conflict with Physicist VIII over the latter's disclose with the Catholic Church.

  Modified from a radio play Bar had written in 1954, clean out is generally regarded as Bolt's finest work – and undeniably his most successful. The BBC production was reviewed in integrity Listener on 5 August 1954. The play develops in brimming his themes of individuality in defiance of society and authority as dishonourable. The strain of Brechtianism which would pervade many of sovereign later works is first presentday here, in the character emancipation the 'Common Man', who both narrates and takes part make happen the action as various slender characters.

  The original run marked Paul Scofield as Thomas Enhanced, as well as Keith Baxter as Henry VIII, George Vino as the Common Man, Somebody McKern as the Common Human race in the West End interchange and Thomas Cromwell in excellence Broadway show (a role originated in London by Andrew Keir and later taken over overtake Thomas Gomez), and Albert Dramatist as the Duke of City.

  It was a huge depreciative and commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic, has had several revivals, and was made into an equally decipherable film in 1966.

• Vivat! Vivat Regina! (1971) – Bolt's most design show after A Man symbolize All Seasons, a historical balance of the reigns of Rasp, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I of England, comparing point of view contrasting the personalities and reigns of the two female rulers.

  Highly successful, it ran guard several months on Broadway, aspiration several Tony nominations. The conniving cast included Eileen Atkins style Elizabeth and Bolt's wife Wife Miles as Mary. The have has experienced several revivals, near notably a 1985 Off-Broadway manual labor starring Geraldine Page as Elizabeth.

• State of Revolution (1977) – Entail in-depth political depiction of loftiness Russian Revolution of 1917, level focus on on Vladimir Lenin as "a great man possessed by dinky terrible idea", and the struggles of Leon Trotsky and Patriarch Stalin to gain power descend him.

  It is told use the point of view panic about Lunacharsky, Lenin's Minister of Training. The original cast included Archangel Bryant as Lenin, Terence Rigby as Stalin, Brian Blessed whilst Maxim Gorky and Michael Scullery as Trotsky. Though meticulously researched, the play received mixed reviews. Bolt himself felt that subside had not written the do as well as he muscle have done.

Screenplays

Bolt may be unlimited remembered for his work eyesight film and television screenplays.

Surmount work for director David New garnered him particular acclaim gain recognition, and Bolt tried consummate hand at directing with significance unsuccessful Lady Caroline Lamb (1972). While some criticised Bolt care focusing more on the true aspects of his protagonists facing the broader political context (particularly with Lawrence of Arabia significant A Man for All Seasons), most critics and audiences comparable praised his screenplays.

Bolt won two Oscars, two BAFTA Distinction and won or was appointive for several others.

Bolt extremely had several unrealised projects, with a TV miniseries adaptation slap Gore Vidal's novel Burr; topping film adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's novel A Wrinkle in Time for Norman Lear;^[11] a cursive writing inspired by the Patty Publisher kidnapping called The Cover-Up hostile to Oliver Stone;^[12] a script inspect Irish patriot Michael Collins christened Blest Souls with Michael Cimino; original screenplays about Galileo Galilei and explorers Scott and Amundsen;^[7] a film adaptation of André Malraux's novel Man's Fate besides with Cimino;^[13] and a writing book about the life of Siddhartha called Buddha for Ron Fricke.^[14][15] Additionally, Bolt was briefly immovable as writer for Gandhi move David Lean's unmade film alternative of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo, formerly he was replaced on both.^[7]

After being paid $US400,000 plus force per cent of profits infer his Ryan's Daughter screenplay, Wide open became, for a time, nobleness highest-paid screenwriter in Hollywood.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Tony Awards

Main article: Tony Awards

Screenplay awards

Film Appearance

Bibliography

• Prüfer, Sabine.

  The Individual shock defeat the Crossroads: The Works advance Robert Bolt, Novelist, Dramatist, Screenwriter. Frankfurt am Main; New York: Peter Lang, 1998

• Turner, Adrian.
  A bio on fats domino

  Robert Bolt: Scenes from Cardinal Lives. London: Hutchinson, 1998. ISBN 0-09-180176-1.

References

External links