John Osborne: A Background

In 1929 John James Osborne was born in Fulham, London to a commercial artist and barmaid. When he was only 11 his father died and then he was sent to boarding school (he was later expelled for getting into a physical confrontation with a teacher). By this time World War II was over and he had dodged serving in the military. His first jobs out of school were as a journalist at several different trade magazines. At the age of 19 he acted for the first time and only a year later collaborated on his first play. In 1956 his masterpiece Look Back in Anger was performed for the first time at the Royal Court Theatre. After the success of this work the Evening Standard named Osborne the most promising playwright of the year. He then became exceedingly prolific by today's standards, churning out: The Entertainer (1957), Epitaph for George Dillon (1958), The World of Paul Slickey (1959), A Subject of Scandal and Concern (1960), Luther (1961) and Plays for England: The Blood of the Bambergs (1962). He wrote more plays as well but not one a year like he did over this six year period. The influence of German playwright and theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht is evident in his work, especially in his sixth play Luther. In addition to plays for the stage, he wrote several scripts for special presentations on the BBC. He also was known for adapting and abridging works by Wilde, Ibsen and Strindberg.