Terence Rattigan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir Terence Rattigan CBE
Portrait of Rattigan by Allan Warren
Born	(1911-06-10)10 June 1911 South Kensington, London, England
Died	30 November 1977(1977-11-30) (aged 66) Hamilton, Bermuda
Other names	Terence Mervyn Rattigan
Occupation	Playwright

Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (born June 10, 1911 – died November 30, 1977) was a famous British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular playwrights in the middle of the 20th century.

His plays often took place in wealthy, upper-middle-class settings. Some of his most well-known works include The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952), and Separate Tables (1954).

Early Life

Terence Rattigan was born in 1911 in South Kensington, London. His family had roots in Ireland. He had an older brother named Brian.

His grandfather, Sir William Henry Rattigan, was a well-known judge in India and later a Member of Parliament in the UK. Terence's father, Frank Rattigan, was a diplomat.

Even though most books say he was born on June 10, 1911, his birth certificate shows June 9. However, there is proof that the date on the certificate might be wrong. He didn't have a middle name when he was born, but he later chose "Mervyn" when he was an adult.

Education

Rattigan went to Sandroyd School from 1920 to 1925. This school was in Cobham, Surrey at the time. After that, he attended Harrow School.

He was a good cricket player at Harrow. He scored 29 runs in the important Eton–Harrow match in 1929. He was also part of the Harrow School Officer Training Corps, where he once organized a small "mutiny" that was reported in a newspaper. After Harrow, he went on to study at Trinity College, Oxford.

Life and Career

Terence Rattigan became a successful playwright very early in his career. His comedy French Without Tears was a big hit in 1936. This play was inspired by a trip he made in 1933 to a village in Germany where young English gentlemen went to learn German.

In 1939, he wrote a more serious play called After the Dance. This play was about young, fashionable people who didn't get involved in politics. The start of World War II meant the play didn't run for very long. Before the war, he also wrote a play about Nazi Germany called Follow My Leader, but it was not allowed to be performed in public at first.

During the war, Rattigan served in the Royal Air Force as a tail gunner. His experiences during this time helped him write the play Flare Path. In 1943, he worked with the RAF Film Production Unit to create movies like The Way to the Stars and Journey Together.

After the war, Rattigan continued to write both comedies and dramas. He became a very important playwright. His most successful plays from this period include The Winslow Boy (1946), The Browning Version (1948), The Deep Blue Sea (1952), and Separate Tables (1954).

In 1956, a new style of plays, called "kitchen sink dramas," became popular. These plays, like John Osborne's Look Back in Anger, were seen as more modern. Rattigan's style was sometimes thought of as old-fashioned. He felt a bit upset by this. His later plays, such as Ross and Man and Boy, are not as famous as his earlier works, but they still showed his great talent.

Rattigan was very interested in the life of T. E. Lawrence, a famous British officer. In 1960, he wrote a play about Lawrence called Ross. There were plans to make it into a movie, but this didn't happen because another film about Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia, was already being made.

In 1962, Rattigan was diagnosed with leukaemia, a type of cancer, but he seemed to get better two years later. He became ill again in 1968. He didn't like the "Swinging London" culture of the 1960s, so he moved to Bermuda. There, he earned a lot of money writing screenplays for movies like The V.I.P.s and The Yellow Rolls-Royce. For a while, he was the highest-paid screenwriter in the world.

In 1964, Rattigan wrote to another playwright, Joe Orton, to praise his play Entertaining Mr Sloane. Rattigan even invested money to help the play move to a bigger theater. He recognized Orton's talent, even though Orton's plays were very different from his own.

Terence Rattigan was made a knight in June 1971 for his contributions to theater. This meant he was given the title "Sir." He was only the fourth playwright in the 20th century to be knighted. Before this, he had been made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1958. He moved back to Britain, and his plays became popular again before he passed away.

Death

Terence Rattigan died in Hamilton, Bermuda, on November 30, 1977, at the age of 66. He had bone cancer. His ashes were placed in his family's burial vault at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Legacy

In 1990, the British Library received Rattigan's collection of papers. This included 300 volumes of letters and documents related to his plays and other writings.

Many of Rattigan's plays have been performed again in recent years. For example, The Deep Blue Sea was revived in 1993. The Winslow Boy was performed in 2001 and 2002. Other plays like Man and Boy and Separate Tables have also had successful revivals. His play about Lord Nelson, A Bequest to the Nation, was even brought back as a radio play.

In 2010 and 2011, several of his plays, including After the Dance and Cause Célèbre, were staged as part of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of his birth. Flare Path was also revived in London's West End.

In 2011, the BBC made a documentary called The Rattigan Enigma by Benedict Cumberbatch. The actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who also went to Harrow like Rattigan, presented the film about Rattigan's life and work. Also in 2011, a new movie version of The Deep Blue Sea was released.

Stage Plays

Television Plays

• 1951 The Final Test
• 1962 The Largest Theatre in the World: Heart to Heart
• 1964 Ninety Years On
• 1966 Nelson – A Portrait in Miniature
• 1968 All on Her Own
• 1972 High Summer

Radio Plays

Many of Rattigan's stage plays were also made into radio plays by the BBC. The first play he wrote just for radio was Cause Célèbre, which was broadcast in 1975. It was based on a real murder case from 1935.

Film Work

Terence Rattigan wrote or helped write the screenplays for many films.

Filmed Plays

These are films based on his stage plays:

• French Without Tears (1940)
• While the Sun Shines (1947)
• The Winslow Boy (1948 and 1999)
• Adventure Story (BBC TV versions: 1950 and 1961)
• The Browning Version (film: 1951 and 1994; TV: 1955 and 1985)
• The Final Test (1953; based on his 1951 television play)
• The Man Who Loved Redheads (1954; based on Who Is Sylvia?)
• The Deep Blue Sea (1955 and 2011)
• The Prince and the Showgirl (1957; based on The Sleeping Prince)
• Separate Tables (1958; Rattigan was nominated for an Academy Award for this screenplay)
• A Bequest to the Nation (1973)
• Cause Célèbre (1987; TV)

Original Screenplays

Terence Rattigan also wrote these movies that were not based on his plays:

• English Without Tears (1944; also known as Her Man Gilbey)
• Journey Together (1945)
• Bond Street (1948)
• The Sound Barrier (1952; also known as Breaking the Sound Barrier; Rattigan received an Academy Award nomination for this)
• The V.I.P.s (1963)
• The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)

Other Screenwriting

Rattigan also helped write screenplays for films based on other writers' works:

• Gypsy (1937)
• Quiet Wedding (1940; based on a play)
• The Day Will Dawn (1942; based on a story)
• Uncensored (1942; based on a book)
• The Way to the Stars (1945; from a story he co-wrote)
• Brighton Rock (1947; with Graham Greene, from Greene's novel)
• Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969; based on a novel)

Images for kids

• 

  Portrait of Rattigan by Allan Warren

See also

In Spanish: Terence Rattigan para niños