Larry Stephens

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For the professional wrestler, see Larry Stephens (wrestler)
For the football player of the same name see Larry Stephens (football player).
Larry Stephens

Born Lawrence Geoffrey Stephens
16 July 1923(1923-07-16)
Llandilofawr, Wales
Died 26 January 1959 (aged 35)
St Pancras, London
Cause of death cerebral haemorrhage
Nationality British
Occupation Scriptwriter

Larry Stephens (born Lawrence Geoffrey Stephens on 16 July 1923 [1] – died 26 January 1959 [2]) was a BBC radio scriptwriter, most popularly known for co-writing The Goon Show with Spike Milligan. Stephens was a regular writer of the show for the first two years, and then returned to The Goon Show to assist Milligan, during the latter's tougher moments.

Trained as an accountant, Stephens distinguished himself as a jazz pianist before the onset of World War II. Following service in the war, he returned to England, and began writing for British comedian Tony Hancock. before Hancock became famous, and was best man at Hancock's first wedding. In 1952, he developed a new show for Hancock, which was designed to run for a full half hour without musical breaks, called Welcome to Welkham. The show was aired by the BBC, but with Brian Reece, instead of Hancock. A single episode was broadcast but this received relatively poor audience feedback [3].

Undeterred, Stephens wrote for a number of popular comedians and shows in the 1950s. He continued to write for Tony Hancock's breakthrough programme, The Tony Hancock Show. Aside from his work on The Goon Show, Stephens also wrote for other popular television series such as The Army Game and Bootsie and Snudge.

According to a BBC Radio 4 programme on Stephens' life, it was while working on the second season of The Goon Show, that Stephens, doubling both as a key contributor and as Milligan's agent, began to drink so heavily it affected his work. In February 1954, the BBC asserted that Stephens had violated the terms of his contract by failing to deliver scripts for The Goon Show on time, and that, thereafter, his work would only be considered on spec. Insulted, Stephens refused to have anything further to do with The Goon Show. He joined the writing staff of The Army Game, but two years after the BBC cancelled his contract, Milligan managed to rehire Stephens for The Goon Show on the condition that Milligan, not the BBC, pay his salary. Stephens' heavy drinking had aggravated his high blood pressure, and he died on 26 January 1959; the official cause of death was a cerebral haemorrhage brought about by chronic hypertension [3].

Stephens' death has long been a subject of surmise and conjecture, partly since during the first two years of The Goon Show he shared more credits for writing than anyone but Milligan, but subsequently wrote very little. Many Goon Show fans believe that Stephens died while having dinner with Milligan. Another theory, advanced by Humphrey Carpenter in his biography of Spike Milligan, states that he died in a car while going out to dinner with his wife, Diana, and Milligan. It was most likely that Stephens' death was the reason that The Goon Show episode, "Dishonoured - Again" (broadcast on 26 January 1959) was a remake of the show "Dishonoured" (broadcast on 14 December 1954) [4].

[edit] Filmography (as writer)

[edit] References

  1. ^ GRO Register of Births: SEP 1923 6b 1497 LLANDILOFAWR, Lawrence G. Stephens, mmn = Thomas
  2. ^ GRO Register of Deaths:MAR 1959 5d 624 PANCRAS - Lawrence G. Stephens, aged 35
  3. ^ a b BBC Radio 4 Programme: "Larry Stephens, The Man Who Never Was" (originally aired 24 May 2007)
  4. ^ The Goon Show Depository forum

[edit] External links

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Persondata
NAME Stephens, Larry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stephens, Lawrence Geoffrey
SHORT DESCRIPTION Scriptwriter
DATE OF BIRTH 1923-07-16
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH 1959-01-26
PLACE OF DEATH