William Martin Russell (born 23 August 1947 in Whiston, Merseyside) is a British playwright, screenwriter, author, lyricist and composer. There are many well-known people named William Russell: William Russell (bishop), Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1348 to 1374. ... {| style=float:right; |- | |- | |} is the 235th day of the year (236th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... , Whiston is a town in Knowsley, Merseyside, England. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... Screenwriters, scenarists, or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... For other uses, see Author (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Life

Russell comes from a working class background. After leaving school with one O-level in English, he first became a ladies hairdresser and ran his own salon. Russell then undertook a variety of jobs, also writing songs which were performed in local folk clubs. He also contributed songs and sketches to local radio programmes. At 20 years of age, he returned to college and became a teacher in Toxteth. Around this time he met his later wife Annie and became interested in writing drama. , Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool, Merseyside. ...

Work

His first success was a play about The Beatles called John, Paul, George, Ringo ...and Bert commissioned for the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and transferring to the West End in 1974. Three of his later plays became outstanding successes. One was Educating Rita, about a working-class female hairdresser and her Open University teacher. The semi-autobiographical Educating Rita was made into a film in 1983 starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. The second was the musical Blood Brothers for which Russell also composed the music. It was produced in 1983; first opening in Liverpool and then transferring to London, where it was highly successful and recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary (April 2007), performing at the Phoenix Theatre. Bill Kenwright opened a new production in 1988, and the show also opened on Broadway in 1993. The third play was Shirley Valentine, which first opened in Liverpool in 1986 before a new production opened in London in 1988 starring Pauline Collins. It was also made into a successful film in 1989, again with Collins in the title role. Russell received BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for both Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine. The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... Everyman Theatre at dusk from the steps of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King The Everyman Theatre is a theatre located on Hope Street in Liverpool, United Kingdom. ... West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, England, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of Londons Theatreland. Along with New Yorks Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre... Educating Rita is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell which premièred at The Warehouse, London, in 1980; and a film (1983) directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Julie Walters, Michael Caine, and Maureen Lipman with a screenplay by Russell. ... Affiliations Alliance of Non-Aligned Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Website http://www. ... This article is about the English actor. ... Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an English Golden Globe-winning actress. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... For other uses, see Blood Brothers (disambiguation). ... Bill Kenwright CBE (born 4 September 1945, in Liverpool, Merseyside, England) is an actor and producer. ... Shirley Valentine is a play by Willy Russell, first staged in 1986. ... Pauline Collins (born September 3, 1940) is a British actress working extensively in movies and television. ... Educating Rita is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell which premièred at The Warehouse, London, in 1980; and a film (1983) directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Julie Walters, Michael Caine, and Maureen Lipman with a screenplay by Russell. ... Shirley Valentine is a play by Willy Russell, first staged in 1986. ...

Russell has also received acclaim for his work on television, including the one-off drama, Our Day Out, which aired in 1977. He penned another television drama, One Summer, which aired as a five-part series on Channel 4 in 1983, starring a young David Morrissey. ч Our Day Out is a made-for-TV film about deprived children from Liverpool, United Kingdom. ... David Morrissey (born June 21, 1964) is an English film, television and stage actor. ...

In 2000, Russell published his first novel The Wrong Boy. In epistolary form, main character Raymond Marks, a 19-year old from Manchester, tells the story of his life in letters to his hero Morrissey. An epistolary novel is a book written using a literary technique in which a novel is composed as a series of letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. ... For other uses, see Morrissey (disambiguation). ...

Willy Russell has written songs since the early 1960s, and has written the music to most of his plays and musicals. He also penned "The Show", which was the theme song to the 1985 ITV drama series "Connie" and which became a top 30 hit for vocalist Rebecca Storm. His first album, Hoovering the Moon, was released in 2003.

List of Plays, novels, musicals and films (incomplete)

• Keep Your Eyes Down (play 1971)
• Sam O'Shanker (Play 1972, musical 1973)
• Blind Scouse (1972)
• John, Paul, George, Ringo ...and Bert (musical 1974)
• Death of a Young Man (play 1974)
• Breezeblock Park (play 1975)
• Our Day Out (made-for-TV film 1976)
• One For The Road (play 1976)
• Stags and Hens (1978 play and film)
• Educating Rita (play 1980, film 1983)
• One Summer (TV series 1983)
• Blood Brothers (musical 1983) still running
• Shirley Valentine (play 1988, film 1989)
• Dancin' Thru the Dark (film 1990, an adaption of Stags and Hens)
• Terraces (film 1993)
• The Wrong Boy (debut novel 2000)

ч Our Day Out is a made-for-TV film about deprived children from Liverpool, United Kingdom. ... Stags and Hens is a play by Willy Russell. ... Educating Rita is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell which premièred at The Warehouse, London, in 1980; and a film (1983) directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Julie Walters, Michael Caine, and Maureen Lipman with a screenplay by Russell. ... For other uses, see Blood Brothers (disambiguation). ... Shirley Valentine is a play by Willy Russell, first staged in 1986. ... Dancin Thru the Dark (1990) is a British film directed by Mike Ockrent and written by Willy Russell. ...

Albums

• Hoovering The Moon (2003)

Awards and Nominations

• In 1980 he won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy for his play Educating Rita.
• In 1983 he won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical for the musical Blood Brothers.
• In 1984 he gained a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Educating Rita.
• In 1984 he gained an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Educating Rita
• In 1984 he gained a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture Screenplay for Educating Rita.
• In 1988 he won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy for his play Shirley Valentine.
• In 1990 he won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Screenplay for Shirley Valentine.
• In 1990 he gained a BAFTA nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Shirley Valentine.
• Has twice been nominated for Broadway's Tony Award: in 1989 as author of Best Play nominee Shirley Valentine and in 1993 as Best Book (Musical) for Blood Brothers.

The Laurence Olivier Awards, previously known as The Society of West End Theatre Awards, were renamed in honour of British actor Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier in 1984, having first been established in 1976. ... 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. ...

External links

• Willy Russell Homepage
• Willy Russell at ContemporaryWriters
• Russell at IMDb