Tom Clarke (writer)

Last updated

Tom Clarke (7 November 1918 – 14 January 1993) was an English screenwriter. [1] He belonged to the short-lived "Langham Group" of television writers and directors. He was the father of the British sociologist Simon Clarke and was the brother-in-law of screenwriter Philip Mackie.

Clarke was born in England to an American father. He left school to become an apprentice electrician, but began working in the theatre, and was briefly an actor. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War II, and subsequently studied to become a barrister. Re-locating to Brazil during the early 1950s, he worked as a film editor and directed some documentaries.

On return to the UK, Clarke worked mainly as a television writer, creating plays, drama series and sitcoms. In 1958 he became part of the "Drama Experimental Unit" at the BBC, along with others such as Troy Kennedy Martin and Anthony Pelissier; they were disbanded in 1960. [2]

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenny Clarke</span> American actor

Lenny Clarke is an American comedian and actor. He is known for his thick Boston accent and as the role of Uncle Teddy on the series Rescue Me.

<i>Edge of Darkness</i> British television drama serial

Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six 55-minute episodes in late 1985. A mixture of crime drama and political thriller, it revolves around the efforts of widowed policeman Ronald Craven to unravel the truth behind the murder of his daughter Emma. Craven's investigations soon lead him into a murky world of government and corporate cover-ups and nuclear espionage, pitting him against dark forces that threaten the future of life on Earth.

Michael Wearing was a British television producer, who spent much of his career working on drama productions for the BBC. He is best known as the producer of the well received serials Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and Edge of Darkness (1985), which created for him a reputation as one of British television's foremost drama producers.

Troy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter. He created the long-running BBC TV police series Z-Cars (1962–1978), and the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness. He also wrote the screenplay for the original version of The Italian Job (1969).

Ian Kennedy Martin is a British television scriptwriter who created the action drama series The Sweeney (1975–1978).

<i>Z-Cars</i> British television drama series

Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Peck</span> English actor (1945–1999)

Robert Peck was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial Edge of Darkness, for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as game warden Robert Muldoon in the film Jurassic Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screenwriting</span> Art and craft of writing screenplays

Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.

George Axelrod was an American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director, best known for his play The Seven Year Itch (1952), which was adapted into a film of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe. Axelrod was nominated for an Academy Award for his 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's and also adapted Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

Allan Prior was an English television scriptwriter and novelist, who wrote over 300 television episodes from the 1950s onwards.

Kevin Clarke is an English playwright and screenwriter of film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Clarke</span> British actor (1947–2014)

Warren Clarke was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. His television appearances included Dalziel and Pascoe, The Manageress and Sleepers.

David Marshall Grant is an American actor, singer and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Rosenberg</span> American screenwriter

Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has won a Peabody Award. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of America Awards. Since joining the Writers Guild of America, she has been involved in its board of directors and was a strike captain during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. She supports female screenwriters through the WGA Diversity Committee and co-founded the League of Hollywood Women Writers.

Michael Joseph Cassutt is an American television producer, screenwriter, and author. His notable TV work includes producing or writing, or both, for The Outer Limits, Eerie, Indiana, Beverly Hills, 90210, and The Twilight Zone. In addition to his work in television, Cassutt has written over thirty short stories, predominately in the genres of science fiction and fantasy. He has also published novels, including the 1986 The Star Country, the 1991 Dragon Season, the 2001 Red Moon and the 2011 Heaven's Shadow, in collaboration with David S. Goyer. In addition, Cassutt contributes non-fiction articles to magazines and is the author of the non-fiction book, The Astronaut Maker, a biography of NASA legend George W. S. Abbey (2018).

Johnny Harris is an English actor, screenwriter, producer and director best known for his roles in film and television, including Jawbone, This is England '86, A Christmas Carol, The Salisbury Poisonings, Medici, Troy: Fall of a City, Snow White and the Huntsman, Fortitude, Monsters: Dark Continent, The Fades, Welcome to the Punch, and London to Brighton.

Father & Son is a four-part Irish television crime thriller produced by Left Bank Pictures and Octagon Films. The series was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ One and in the United Kingdom on ITV.

Double Dare (<i>Play for Today</i>) 24th episode of the 6th series of Play for Today

"Double Dare" is a television play in the British BBC anthology TV series Play for Today. The episode was first broadcast on 6 April 1976. "Double Dare" was written by Dennis Potter, directed by John Mackenzie and produced by Kenith Trodd.

James MacTaggart was a Scottish television producer, director and writer. He worked in London from 1961.

First Night was a BBC 1 series of contemporary television dramas by new writers, which ran from September 1963 to May 1964 and was the forerunner of The Wednesday Play. The series was produced by James MacTaggart. Nigel Kneale's The Road was produced under the show's banner. Only a single episode (Maggie) is known to exist. The rest of the series, including The Road, is considered lost.

References

  1. ↑ The Independent Obituary
  2. ↑ Lez Cooke (2007). Troy Kennedy Martin. Manchester University Press. p. 57. ISBN   9780719067020.
  3. ↑ Screen Online
  4. ↑ Play for Today
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.