Voting Station

Terence Rattigan

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Playwright

The Resume

    (June 10, 1911-November 30, 1977)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Wrote the plays 'French Without Tears' (1936), 'After the Dance' (1939), 'The Winslow Boy' (1946), 'The Browning Version' (1948), 'The Deep Blue Sea' (1952), 'Separate Tables' (1954), 'Ross' (1960), 'A Bequest to the Nation' (1970), 'In Praise of Love' (1973) and 'Cause Celebre' (1977)
    Wrote screenplays for 'The Way to the Stars' (1945), 'Brighton Rock' (1947), 'Breaking the Sound Barrier' (1952), 'The V.I.P.s' (1963), 'The Yellow Rolls-Royce' (1964) and 'Goodbye Mr. Chips' (1969)
    Knighted (1971)

Why he might be annoying:

    During a performance of 'Romeo and Juliet' at Oxford, he delivered his one line upon discovering Juliet's body so badly that he drew uproarious laughter at a moment meant to be tragic.
    He left Oxford without a degree.
    After the success of John Osborne's 'Look Back in Anger' and the rise of the 'Angry Young Men' movement in English drama, his plays were suddenly dismissed by the critics as old-fashioned.
    He probably did not help his cause when he said the only message he could find in 'Look Back in Anger' was 'Look, ma, I'm not Terence Rattigan.'
    He said his 'bitterest disappointment' was when a proposed film based on his play 'Ross,' about the life of T.E. Lawrence, was cancelled to avoid competing with David Lean's 'Lawrence of Arabia.'
    He disliked the 'Swinging London' of the 60s so much that he moved to Bermuda.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He won scholarships to Harrow and Oxford.
    He served as a tail gunner in the RAF during World War II.
    During a five-year period in the 40s, he had plays running simultaneously in three adjacent West End theaters.
    He was considered for a knighthood in 1958, but the honor was downgraded to a CBE over concerns about his homosexuality.
    Despite his feuding with several young playwrights, he invested £3,000 to transfer Joe Orton's comedy 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane' to a West End theater.
    He saw his plays return to critical favor in the 70s.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 72.73% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying