John Osborne
John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic of the Establishment. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre.
In a productive life of more than 40 years, Osborne explored many themes and genres, writing for stage, film and TV. His personal life was extravagant and iconoclastic. He was notorious for the ornate violence of his language, not only on behalf of the political causes he supported but also against his own family, including his wives and children.
Osborne was one of the first writers to address Britain's purpose in the post-imperial age. He was the first to question the point of the monarchy on a prominent public stage. During his peak (1956–1966), he helped make contempt an acceptable and now even cliched onstage emotion, argued for the cleansing wisdom of bad behaviour and bad taste, and combined unsparing truthfulness with devastating wit.
Read more about John Osborne: Early Life, Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer and Into The 1960s, 1970s and Later Life, Critical Responses, Idols and Effect, Works, Major Sources
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“Dead of a dark thing, John Holmes, you’ve been lost
in the college chapel, mourned as father and teacher,
mourned with piety and grace under the University Cross.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Miss Western: Tell me, child, what objections can you have to the young gentleman?
Sophie: A very solid objection, in my opinion. I hate him.
Miss Western: Well, I have known many couples who have entirely disliked each other, lead very comfortable, genteel lives.”
—John Osborne (1929–1994)