John Osborne

John James Osborne ( born December 12, 1929 in London, † December 24 1994 in Shropshire ) was an English playwright.

Life

John Osborne was born in Fulham, London, the son of a Copywriter. He received his education at the Balmont College in Devon, but was referred after an attack on the principal of the school.

Then it struck him to the theater, where he first finally found work as a stage manager and as an actor. At the same time he tried his hand as a writer, and two of his early plays The devil inside her and Personal Enemy were performed on smaller stages before 1956 his most successful drama Look Back in Anger (German: Look Back in Anger ), which is still in naturalistic style was written, who presented the newly formed English Stage Company at London's Royal Court Theatre. The troops under the artistic direction of George Devine recognized in the drama the angry and disturbing expression of a new post-war feeling and took the piece unceremoniously as one of three in their game plan. The reviews were mixed, but Kenneth Tynan - the most influential critics of this time - praised it enthusiastically: " Someone who wants to look not look back in anger, I could not love ," he said, "It is the best new piece this decade. " this drama quickly became a commercial success, even in the U.S., where it was played on Broadway and eventually filmed with Richard Burton in the lead role.

His next work was The Entertainer (Eng. The Entertainer ), which also premiered at the Royal Court Theatre ( starring Laurence Olivier) and is claimed by the that it was inspired by Bertolt Brecht's work. This is an assertion that is always denied Osborne. Nevertheless, one can see in his plays, that Osborne played with the devices of alienation, a technique that was largely founded by Bertolt Brecht. Whether he uses deliberately breaking Chechen theater theory or not, his works gained him great respect, especially among the youth. The Entertainer uses the metaphor of the dying British vaudeville tradition ( Music Hall ) to play on the British Empire, whose demise was clear by the withdrawal of the fleet from the Suez Canal.

Luther (1961) and Inadmissible Evidence (1964 ) are ausstrucksstarke, dramas that weave Osborne's rhetorical skills to speak more than clear language, use it skillfully and while still creating complexity, ambiguity and depth in the plot. A Patriot for Me ( A patriot for me) in 1965 addressed homosexuality at the time of the turn of the century, by taking up the history of the Austrian spy Alfred Redl.

A Hotel in Amsterdam is often underestimated, while A Sense of Detachment (1975 ) flunked despite its unconventionality and the neo- avant-garde view of the critics; Osborne's company design was considered obsolete. Osborne's works were no longer performed by the Royal Court Theatre and its pieces lost in the course of the following years one of quality. His last piece Deja vu (1991 ), a sequel to Look Back in Anger, refers to the former strength of his abilities guess, but overall it seems to fault-finding in order to build on the fire of Look Back in Anger can.

John Osborne not only wrote plays, but also screenplays, mainly adaptations of his own works. For Tom Jones - Between the bed and the gallows, an adaptation of the novel by Henry Fielding, he was awarded the 1964 Academy Award.

In some movies John Osborne is also seen as an actor, including in First Love (1970), Jack settles (1971 ), Tomorrow never comes (1978) and Flash Gordon ( 1980). In the last ten years of his life Osborne received much recognition (but also insults ) for the two-volume autobiography, A Better Class of Person (1981) and Almost a Gentleman ( 1991), in which he is corrosive spring brutally honest with enemies, be they from the family, society or the theater scene, settled accounts. This also included his ex- wife, actress Jill Bennett, a.

His openness and originality met the zeitgeist and influenced other British playwright Harold Pinter and Arnold Wesker like. He sat for the first time a specific slang and vulgar language.

John Osborne died as a result of his diabetes.

Osborne was married five times, including 1963 to 1968 with Penelope Gilliatt. From this relationship comes a child. From the above previous marriage to Mary Ure (1957-1963) had two children.

Films

Screenplay

Based Upon