Terence Rattigan

Born in London on the 10th June 1911, Terence Rattigan (1911–1977) was educated at Harrow (Scholar) from 1925 to 1930 and Trinity College, Oxford (History Scholarship) BA to 1933. He served as a flight Lieutenant in the Central Command, RAF from 1940 to 1945. In 1934 he had become a full-time playwright.

His many successful plays include French Without Tears, After The Dance, Flare Path, Love in Idleness, While The Sun Shines, The Winslow Boy, The Browning Version, Harlequinade, Adventure Story, Who is Sylvia?, The Deep Blue Sea, The Sleeping Prince, Separate Tables, Variation on a Theme, Ross, Man and Boy, A Bequest to the Nation, In Praise to the Nation and Cause Célèbre.

Terence Rattigan still holds the record of being the only playwright to have notched more than 1000 performances for two separate plays, namely, French Without Tears and While The Sun Shines.

During the war years, he had three plays running on Shaftesbury Avenue: Flare Path at the Apollo, While The Sun Shines at the Globe and Love in Idleness at the Lyric.

He wrote screenplays of French Without Tears, The Way To The Stars, Journey Together, While The Sun Shines, The Winslow Boy, The Browning Version, The Prince and The Showgirl, Separate Tables, The Sound Barrier, The Man Who Loved Redheads, The Deep Blue Sea, The Final Test, The VIPs, The Yellow Rolls Royce, Goodbye Mr Chips, Conduct Unbecoming and A Bequest To The Nation and collaborated on The Quiet Wedding, The Day Will Dawn, English Without Tears, Uncensored, Brighton Rock and Bond Street. His television plays include Heart to Heart, Adventure Story and High Summer. After the Dance was shown in the performance series on BBC 2 in 1993 and The Deep Blue Sea was recorded for the same series.

In 1958 he was awarded a CBE, and in 1971 he became Knight Bachelor. Sir Terence Rattigan died in 1977.

For further information on Terence Rattigan, visit terencerattigan.com.

To join the Terence Rattigan Society, visit theterencerattigansociety.co.uk.