Robert Oxton Bolt (August 15, 1924 – February 12, 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar winning screenwriter. is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the rap album, see 1924 (album). ... Sale is the name of several places: Sale, Victoria, Australia Sale, Greater Manchester, England Sale, Italy (pronunciation: SAH-leh) - in the province of Alessandria Salè, Morocco Sale Marasino (first pronunciation: SAH-leh), an Italian commune in the province of Brescia Sale is also a type of contract for the exchange... For other uses, see Cheshire (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Petersfield can refer to any of the following places: Petersfield, Hampshire, a market town in England Petersfield, Manitoba, in Canada Petersfield, South Carolina in the United States of America Petersfield, an area of Cambridge, England This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise... For other uses, see Hampshire (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Sarah Miles (b. ... Sarah Miles (b. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... Doctor Zhivago (Russian: Доктор Живаго) is a 1965 film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak. ... A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolts play of the same name about Sir Thomas More. ... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... 1967 - A Man for All Seasons - Robert Bolt Accident – Harold Pinter The Deadly Affair – Paul Dehn Two for the Road – Frederic Raphael 1966 - Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treatment - David Mercer Alfie – Bill Naughton It Happened Here – Kevin Brownlow Andrew Mollo The Quiller Memorandum – Harold Pinter 1965 - Darling - Frederic Raphael... Lawrence of Arabia is an award-winning 1962 film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. ... A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolts play of the same name about Sir Thomas More. ... The Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... For the main article see Golden Globe Awards. ... Doctor Zhivago (Russian: Доктор Живаго) is a 1965 film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak. ... A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolts play of the same name about Sir Thomas More. ... The Mission is a 1986 British film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in eighteenth century South America. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... This article is about the play. ... A Tony Award for Best Play has been awarded since 1947. ... This article is about the play. ... The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Screenplay is one the annual film awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle. ... A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolts play of the same name about Sir Thomas More. ... is the 227th day of the year (228th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the rap album, see 1924 (album). ... is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

Career

He was born in Sale, Manchester, England. It was at Manchester Grammar School where his obsession for Sir Thomas More developed. He attended Manchester University, and after war service Exeter University. For many years he taught English and history at Millfield School and only became a full time writer at the age of 33 when his play The Flowering Cherry was staged in London in 1958, with Celia Johnson and Ralph Richardson. Sale is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) is an independent boys school (ages 11-18) in Fallowfield, Manchester, England. ... Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478–6 July 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and politician. ... University of Manchester Motto: Cognitio Sapientia Hvmanitas Knowledge, wisdom, humanity. ... The University of Exeter is the principal University in the English city of Exeter, in Devon. ... English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S., Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, India, South Africa, and the Middle East, among other areas), English linguistics (including English phonetics, phonology... This article is about the study of the past in human terms. ... Millfield is a public school in Street, Somerset, England. ... Dame Celia Johnson (1908-1982) was an English actress, famous for her role in the 1945 film, Brief Encounter, opposite Trevor Howard. ... Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, did their best to make the transition to film. ...

Although he was best known for his original play A Man for All Seasons - a depiction of Sir Thomas More's clash with King Henry VIII over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon - which won awards on the stage and in its film version, most of his writing was screenplays for films or television. This article is about the play. ... Portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478–6 July 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and politician. ... Henry VIII King of England and Ireland by Hans Holbein the Younger His Grace King Henry VIII (28 June 1491–28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Catherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) (Castilian Infanta Catalina de Aragón y Castilla), was the Queen of England as the first wife of Henry VIII of England. ...

Bolt was known for dramatic works that placed their protagonists in tension with the prevailing society. He won great renown for A Man for All Seasons, his first iteration of this theme, but he developed it in his existential script for Lawrence of Arabia (1962). In Lawrence, he succeeded where several before him had failed, at turning T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom into a cogent screenplay by turning the entire book on its head and making it a search for the identity of its author. Lawrence, by Bolt, is presented as a misfit both in English and Arab society. Lawrence of Arabia is an award-winning 1962 film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. ... Thomas Edward Lawrence (August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935), also known as Lawrence of Arabia, and (apparently, among his Arab allies) Aurens or El Aurens, became famous for his role as a British liaison officer during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918. ... Tooling on the cover of the first public printing, showing twin scimitars and the legend: the sword also means clean-ness + death Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph is the autobiographical account of the experiences of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) while serving as a liaison officer with rebel...

It was at this time that Bolt himself fell foul of the law and was arrested and imprisoned for protesting nuclear proliferation. He refused to be "bound over" (i.e, to sign a declaration that he would not engage in such activities again) and was sentenced to one month in prison because of this. The producer of the Lawrence film, Sam Spiegel, persuaded Bolt to sign after he had served only two weeks. Bolt later regretted his actions, and did not speak to Spiegel again after the film was completed. Later, with Doctor Zhivago, he invested Pasternak's sprawling novel with some sense of narrative and the characteristic Bolt dialogue - human, short and telling. The Bounty was Bolt's first project after his stroke, which affected not only his movement, but his speech. In it, Fletcher Christian takes the "Lawrence" role of a man in tension with his society who in the process loses touch with his own identity. The Mission was Bolt's final film project, and once again represented his thematic preoccupations, this time with 18th century Jesuits in South America. Bolt's final produced script was Political Animal, later made into the TV movie Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991), about the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan and the struggles of his press secretary, James Brady, to recover from a near-fatal gunshot injury he received in the process. Bolt was initially reluctant to make the film, but after meeting with Brady he felt he could relate to Brady's struggles with a cerebral injury; thus, a lot of his own experiences recovering from his stroke found their way into the script. Sam Spiegel (11 November 1901 - 31 December 1985) was a successful independent film producer. ... Doctor Zhivago (Russian: Доктор Живаго) is a 1965 film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak. ... Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Russian: ) (February 10 [O.S. January 29] 1890 – May 30, 1960) was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer, in the West best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago. ... The Mission can refer to: The Mission Church (Fellowship), A Student Church/Fellowship in Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas. ... Reagan redirects here. ... James Brady James Scott “Jim” Brady (born August 29, 1940) was Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan. ...

Robert Bolt was married four times, twice to the actress Sarah Miles. His first wife was Jo Riddett, who divorced him in 1963; she became a successful novelist. In the early '80s he had a short-lived marriage to Ann Queensbury. He had four children: Sally (who died in a car crash in 1982), Ben (who later became a film and television director), Joanna, and Tom (who battled heroin addiction as a young adult before becoming a successful watchmaker). He suffered a heart attack and a stroke which left him paralysed in 1979. He died aged 70, in Petersfield, Hampshire, England following a long illness. Sarah Miles (b. ... Heart attack redirects here. ... For other uses, see Stroke (disambiguation). ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... For other uses, see Hampshire (disambiguation). ...

Partial list of plays

Bolt wrote several plays for BBC Radio in the '50s, as well as several unproduced plays, so this list is incomplete. Many of his early radio plays were for children, and only a few (see below) were adapted for the stage. BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. ...

• The Last of the Wine (1956) - one of Bolt's radio plays which Bolt tried to adapt to the stage, but apparently was unsuccessful due to negative reactions on it. The play has never been published or performed since.
• The Critic and the Heart (1957) - Bolt's first professionally produced work, it involves Winifred Blazer, a middle-aged spinster who struggles with events that transpire to ruin her reputation. It was a very modest success; Bolt was never satisfied with it, and greatly re-wrote it, retitled Brother and Sister, in a version produced in 1967.
• The Flowering Cherry (1958) - concerns an aging man who loses touch with reality and gradually isolates those around him. Ran on the West End starring Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson (succeeded by Wendy Hiller) to success but mixed reviews - many critics felt it too closely resembled Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman - and had a brief but unsuccessful run on Broadway starring Hiller and Eric Portman.
• The Tiger and the Horse (1960) - this play is the first of Bolt's to develop his themes of individualism, society, authority, and politics. It concerns an aging college professor, John Dean, who is running for Vice-Chancellor of a prestigious university, but finds his election undermined by his daughter's love affair, a political petition, and his wife's deteriorating mental state. The play starred Michael and Vanessa Redgrave, among others. It was also the first play directed by Bolt's frequent collaborator, celebrated actor-director Noel Willman.
• A Man for All Seasons (1960) - as mentioned above, involves Sir Thomas More's conflict with Henry VIII over his break with the Catholic Church. Adapted from a radio play Bolt had written in 1954, it is generally regarded as Bolt's finest work - and certainly his most successful. The play develops in full his themes of individuality versus society and authority as corrupt. The strain of Brechtianism which would pervade many of his later works is first present here, in the character of the 'Common Man', who both narrates and takes part in the action as various minor characters. The original run starred Paul Scofield as Thomas More, as well as Keith Baxter as Henry VIII, George Rose as the Common Man, Leo McKern as the Common Man in the West End production and Thomas Cromwell in the Broadway show (a role originated in London by Andrew Keir and later taken over by Thomas Gomez), and Albert Dekker as the Duke of Norfolk. It was a huge critical and commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic, has had several revivals, and was made into an equally acclaimed film in 1966.
• Gentle Jack (1963) - a somewhat unusual work by Bolt, a comedy involving Man's involvement with Nature. A banker, Jacko, is sent to the countryside on vacation, and becomes influenced by a Nature spirit who convinces him to abandon his mundane, materialistic life and live in a state of nature, indulging in base pleasures such as murder, sex, and general mischief. Jack, however, is torn between his desire to inhabit both the "Natural" and "Logical" Worlds. It was one of Bolt's few unsuccessful plays; Bolt, who considered the play his best work for the stage, regretted this, feeling that perhaps he had not articulated his points well enough. The play starred Kenneth Williams, Michael Bryant, Sian Phillips, and Edith Evans in its original run.
• The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew (1964) - a children's play, involving a heroic knight, Oblong Fitz-Oblong, sent to slay a vicious dragon on a far-away island, leading him to face off with the crooked Baron Bolligrew, who controls the island, and an evil wizard he recruits to help him. Surprisingly, despite being written for children, the work contains many of Bolt's favorite themes in detail. Among the original cast were Bolt perennial Leo McKern as the title character and a very young Malcolm McDowell in a small part; a revival in the late '60s featured Roy Kinnear as Fitz-Oblong. Paul Scofield provided a voice recording for the dragon. Like A Man for All Seasons, the play had been written for the BBC, and in 1995 was re-written into a children's book. The play was extremely popular, and throughout the 1960s and '70s it had a yearly revival at Christmas in Britain.
• Vivat! Vivat Regina! (1971) - Bolt's most successful show after A Man for All Seasons, a historical account of the reigns of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I of England, comparing and contrasting the personalities and reigns of the two female rulers. Highly successful, it ran for several months on Broadway, winning several Tony nominations. The original cast included Eileen Atkins as Elizabeth and Bolt's wife Sarah Miles as Mary.
• State of Revolution (1977) - An in-depth political depiction of the Russian Revolution of 1917, focusing on Lenin as "a great man possessed by a terrible idea", and the struggles of Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin to gain power under him. It is told from the point-of-view of Anatole Lunacharsky, Minister of Education under Lenin. The original cast included Michael Bryant as Lenin, Terence Rigby as Stalin, Brian Blessed as Maxim Gorky, and Michael Kitchen as Trotsky. Though meticulously researched, the play received mixed reviews and had a short run before being shelved. Bolt himself felt that he hadn't gotten the play quite right.

State of Revolution was Bolt's final produced play, though he wrote several others that were never published or produced. He spent much of the mid-to-late '70s working on a play about portrait artist Augustus John (famous for a series of portraits of T.E. Lawrence), but his work on The Bounty and later his stroke forced him to abandon it. Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, did their best to make the transition to film. ... Dame Celia Johnson (1908-1982) was an English actress, famous for her role in the 1945 film, Brief Encounter, opposite Trevor Howard. ... Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE (August 15, 1912 – May 14, 2003) was a distinguished English film and stage actress. ... Arthur Bob Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. ... For other uses, see Death of a Salesman (disambiguation). ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Eric Portman (born Halifax, West Yorkshire on 13 July 1901 and died St Veep, Cornwall on 7 December 1969) was a distinguished English stage and film actor. ... Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (March 20, 1908—March 21, 1985) was an English actor of great renown. ... Vanessa Redgrave, CBE (born 30 January 1937) is an Academy Award winning English actress and member of the Redgrave family, one of the enduring theatrical dynasties. ... Noel Willman as the sinister Dr. Ravna in the Hammer horror film The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) Noel Willman (August 4, 1918 in Derry, Ireland - December 14, 1988 in New York) was a British actor and theatre director. ... This article is about the play. ... For information on the German author, please see Bertolt Brecht. ... David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE (born 21 January 1922) is a British actor who was born in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, England. ... With Orson Welles (left) in the film Chimes at Midnight Keith Baxter (born April 29, 1933) is a Welsh theatre, film, and television actor. ... George Rose (17 June 1744 — 13 January 1818) was a British politician. ... Image:Number Two. ... Thomas Cromwell: detail from a portrait by Hans Holbein, 1532-3 Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex ( 1485 - July 28, 1540) was an English statesman, one of the most important political figures of the reign of Henry VIII of England. ... Andrew Keir, born Andrew Buggy on April 3, 1926 in Lanarkshire, Scotland, was a British actor, well-known for his roles in several Hammer Films horror film productions during the 1960s. ... Gomez publicity photo Thomas Gomez (July 10, 1905 – June 18, 1971) was an American actor. ... Albert Pekker (born December 20, 1905 in Brooklyn, New York; died May 5, 1968 in Hollywood, California) is an American character actor. ... Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk holding the baton of the Earl Marshal. ... This article is about the physical universe. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... There have been several well-known people named Michael Bryant, including: Michael Bryant (actor) Michael J. Bryant, politician This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Siân Phillips, CBE is a Welsh actress who was born Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips in Betws, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on May 14, 1934. ... Blue plaque at 109 Ebury Street, London Dame Edith Mary Evans DBE (8 February 1888–14 October 1976) was an Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe award winning actress. ... Malcolm McDowell (born 13 June 1943) is a British actor. ... Roy Kinnear (January 8, 1934 – September 20, 1988) was a prolific English character actor. ... David Paul Scofield, CH, CBE (born 21 January 1922) is a British actor who was born in Hurstpierpoint, Sussex, England. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ... Vivat! Vivat Regina! is a Tony nominated play written by Robert Bolt. ... Mary Stuart may refer to: Mary I of Scotland Mary Stuart (actress), an American actress, most known for her 35-year role on Search for Tomorrow Mary Stuart (singer), a singer Mary Stuart (infant), a daughter of James I who died in 1607 aged 2 Mary II of England and... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award® but is formally the Antoinette Perry Award is an annual American award celebrating achievements in theater, including musical theater. ... Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE (born June 16, 1934 in London, England) is a British writer and an award-winning film and theatre actress. ... Sarah Miles (b. ... State of Revolution is a play by Robert Bolt, written in 1977. ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... Vladimir Ilyich Lenin ( Russian: Влади́мир Ильи́ч Ле́нин  listen?), original surname Ulyanov (Улья́нов) ( April 22 (April 10 ( O.S.)), 1870 – January 21, 1924), was a Russian revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party, the first Premier of the Soviet Union, and the founder of the ideology of Leninism. ... Leon Trotsky (Russian:  , Lev Davidovich Trotsky, also transliterated Leo, Lyev, Trotskii, Trotski, Trotskij, Trockij and Trotzky) (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 – August 21, 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronstein (), was a Ukrainian-born Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. ... Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... There have been several well-known people named Michael Bryant, including: Michael Bryant (actor) Michael J. Bryant, politician This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Terence Rigby (born 2 January 1937 in Birmingham, England) is an actor with a number of film and television credits to his name. ... Brian Blessed at Cambridge Film Festival 2007 Brian Blessed (or, in the tradition of English poetry, Blessèd; pronounced //) (born 9 October 1937 in Mexborough, near Doncaster) is an English actor, who came to fame as PC Fancy Smith in the BBC TV police drama series Z Cars. ... Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov (In Russian Алексей Максимович Пешков) (March 28 [O.S. March 16] 1868–June 18, 1936), better known as Maxim Gorky (Максим Горький), was a Soviet/Russian author, a founder of the socialist realism literary method and a political activist. ... Michael Kitchen (born October 31, 1948 in Leicester) is an English actor. ... Artist John, on a 1928 Time cover Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, (January 4, 1878 – October 31, 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. ... Thomas Edward Lawrence (August 16, 1888 – May 19, 1935), also known as Lawrence of Arabia, and (apparently, among his Arab allies) Aurens or El Aurens, became famous for his role as a British liaison officer during the Arab Revolt of 1916–1918. ...

Screenplays

Despite his prolific stage output, Bolt is probably better remembered for his work on film and television screenplays. Bolt's work for director David Lean garnered him particular acclaim and recognition, and Bolt tried his hand at directing with the unsuccessful Lady Caroline Lamb (1972). While many criticized Bolt for focusing more on the personal aspects of his protagonists than the broader political context (particularly with Lawrence and Man), most critics and audiences alike praised his screenplays. Bolt won two Oscars, two BAFTA Awards, and won or was nominated for several others. Sir David Lean KBE (March 25, 1908 – April 16, 1991) was an Academy Award-winning English film director and producer, best remembered for big-screen epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago and A Passage to India. ... Lady Caroline Lamb is a 1972 film based on the life of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron and wife of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

• Lawrence of Arabia (with Michael Wilson) (1962) - despite disputes between Wilson and Bolt over who contributed what to the script, Bolt provided most of the film's dialogue and the interpretation of the characters while Wilson provided the story and outline. Wilson was uncredited, and Bolt alone was nominated for, but did not win, an Academy Award. Bolt and Lean refused to recognize Wilson's contribution to the film, and Wilson was not credited until 1995.
• Doctor Zhivago (1965) - Bolt won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay
• A Man for All Seasons (1966) - Bolt won the Oscar again, adapting his own play to the screen (with some help from Constance Willis).
• The Red Tent (1969) (uncredited additional dialogue)
• Ryan's Daughter (1970)
• Lady Caroline Lamb (1972) (also directed)
• The Bounty (1984)
• The Mission (1986)
• A Man for All Seasons (1988)
• A Dry White Season (uncredited revisions of screenplay)
• Without Warning: The James Brady Story (1991) (TV)

Bolt also worked on the early drafts of the script for Gandhi, but his script was considered unsatisfactory and he was replaced by John Briley. He also had several unrealized projects, including a TV miniseries of Gore Vidal's novel Burr and an adaptation of Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Lawrence of Arabia is an award-winning 1962 film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. ... For other persons named Michael Wilson, see Michael Wilson (disambiguation). ... Doctor Zhivago (Russian: Доктор Живаго) is a 1965 film directed by David Lean and loosely based on the famous novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ... A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolts play of the same name about Sir Thomas More. ... For the movie The Red Tent which refers to a North Pole rescue expedition, see the article Umberto Nobile. ... Ryans Daughter is David Leans 1970 film which tells the story of an Irish girl who has an affair with a British soldier during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours. ... Lady Caroline Lamb is a 1972 film based on the life of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron and wife of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne. ... This article is about the 1984 film. ... The Mission is a 1986 British film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in eighteenth century South America. ... A Man for All Seasons is a 1988 film about Sir Thomas More, directed by and starring Charlton Heston. ... A Dry White Season is a 1989 film starring Marlon Brando, Donald Sutherland, and Susan Sarandon. ... Gandhi (1982) is a multi-award-winning biopic film about the life of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, who was a leader of the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. ... Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) (pronounced and , ) is an American author of novels, stage plays, screenplays, and essays, and the scion of a prominent political family. ... Burr: A Novel is a 1973 novel by Gore Vidal that challenges the traditional iconography of American history to present an alternative view of the life of Aaron Burr, presenting him as a hero, while all the other key historical figures of the time, such as George Washington and Thomas... Madeleine LEngle (b. ... For the movie adaptation, see A Wrinkle in Time (film) . A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy[1] novel by Madeleine LEngle, written between 1959 and 1960[2] and published in 1962 after at least 26 rejections by publishers[3] because it was, in LEngles words...

Reputation

Although held in high regard during the '60s and '70s, today Bolt is generally regarded as a second-tier playwright by most theatre critics. Other than Man (and perhaps The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew), none of his plays are widely remembered today, and most are out of print. Bolt's prolific output in the '60s largely ended with the failure of Gentle Jack; only three more stage plays followed this, and at a highly sporadic rate. Many also criticized Bolt for neglecting his stage career for his film work: theatre director Frith Branbury (who worked with Bolt on Cherry and Tiger) was quoted by Bolt's biographer, Adrian Turner, as saying "I thought he was going to be a really important dramatist but he preferred Sam Spiegel's yacht."^[1] Another Bolt friend, John Dunn, felt that Bolt "wanted to be a great playwright, but hadn't turned out as one."^[2] Sam Spiegel (11 November 1901 - 31 December 1985) was a successful independent film producer. ...

Bolt's work has been alternately praised and criticized by critics for being overly derivative of other writers (most notably the conscious emulation of Brecht Bolt himself admitted to)^[3], for creating implausibly articulate and wordy characters^[4], and for (as noted above) viewing historical situations from the perspective of an individual.^[5]

However, Bolt's work as a screenwriter is more widely - and positively - recognized, particularly his work for David Lean. He won two Oscars (among other awards and nominations) for his screenplays and is generally regarded as being one of the best major screenwriters.

Contemporary screenwriter William Monahan, who wrote the screenplays for Kingdom of Heaven and The Departed, credits Bolt's script for Lawrence as his primary inspiration for becoming a writer and recognized Bolt's influence during his Oscar acceptance speech in 2007. William Monahan (IPA pronunciation: )[1] (born November 3, 1960) is an American novelist and screenwriter. ... The Kingdom of Heaven (or the Kingdom of God, Hebrew מלכות השמים, malkhut hashamayim, Greek basileia tou theou) is a key concept detailed in all the three major monotheistic religions of the world — Islam, Judaism and Christianity. ... The Departed is an Academy Award winning 2006 crime thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg. ... The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. ...

A film maker more directly influenced by Bolt is Oliver Stone. Early in Stone's career, he and Bolt collaborated on a script about Patty Hearst's kidnapping, a project which was ultimately shelved. Stone would later call Bolt one of his biggest mentors and influences.^[6] William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946), known as Oliver Stone, is a three-time Academy Award winning film director and screenwriter. ... Patricia Campbell Hearst (born February 20, 1954), now known as Patricia Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress and occasional actress. ...

Actor Charlton Heston, who starred in several versions of A Man for All Seasons, once referred to that play as the greatest English-language play of the 20th Century, and felt similarly strongly in regards to Bolt's writing abilities. Charlton Heston (born October 4, 1924) is an US-american film actor, known for playing larger-than-life heroic roles such as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Colonel George Taylor in Planet of the Apes, and Judah Ben-Hur in Ben-Hur. ...

Bibliography

• Turner, Adrian. Robert Bolt: Scenes from Two Lives. London: Hutchinson, 1998. ISBN 0-09-180176-1.

Footnotes

External links

• Robert Bolt at the Internet Movie Database
• Robert Bolt biography and filmography at the British Film Institute's Screenonline