Simon Gray

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For other persons named Simon Gray, see Simon Gray (disambiguation).

Simon James Holliday Gray CBE (born October 21, 1936) is an English playwright.

Born in Hayling Island, England, he attended Westminster School, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Trinity College, Cambridge. He lives in London.

He is married to Victoria née Rothschild, youngest daughter of Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild.

In the New Year's Honours List published 31 December 2004 he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to Drama and Literature.

Contents 1 Career 2 Plays 3 Screenplays 4 Television Plays 5 Novels 6 Memoirs 7 References

[edit] Career

Gray has written over 30 plays, including Butley, Quartermaine's Terms, several TV plays, film scripts and a number of popular memoirs.

He has collaborated with actor Alan Bates five times; with director Harold Pinter seven times, most recently on The Old Masters. Peter Bowles, Edward Fox and Clive Francis have frequently appeared in his plays.

He writes lead roles for middle-aged males. His subject matter is often the trials and tribulations of educated intellectuals, and his plays are notable for their wit and emotional incisiveness.

[edit] Plays

• Wise Child Wyndham's Theatre (1967)
• Spoiled, BBC Television, Wednesday Play (28 August 1968); Methuen Plays (1971) ISBN 0416186300
• Dutch Uncle, Aldwych Theatre (1969)
• The Idiot (adapted from Dostoyevsky), Old Vic (1970)
• Butley, Criterion Theatre (1971)
• Otherwise Engaged, Queen's Theatre (1974)
• Dog Days, Oxford 1976; Eyre Methuen (1976) ISBN 0413372707
• Molly, based on the the Francis Rattenbury 1935 murder case, Comedy Theatre (1978)
• The Rear Column, Globe Theatre (1978)
• Close of Play, National Theatre Lyttelton (1979)
• Stage Struck, Vaudeville Theatre (1979)
• Quartermaine's Terms, Queen's Theatre (1981)
• The Common Pursuit, Lyric Hammersmith (1984)
• Melon (later revised as The Holy Terror), Theatre Royal Haymarket (1987)
• Hidden Laughter, Vaudeville Theatre (1990)
• Life Support, Aldwych Theatre (1997)
• Simply Disconnected, sequel to Otherwise Engaged, Minerva Theatre, Chichester (1996)
• Cell Mates, Albery Theatre (1995)
• Just the Three of Us, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (1997); Nick Hern Books (1999) ISBN 1854594346
• The Late Middle Classes, Watford Palace (1999)
• Japes (Peter Hall Company, Mercury Theatre, Colchester (2000) and Theatre Royal Haymarket (2001)
• Japes Too and Michael, sequels to Japes, published in Four Plays by Faber (2004) ISBN 0571219888
• The Pig Trade, published in Four Plays (2004)
• The Holy Terror, Duke of York's Theatre (2004) [1]
• The Old Masters featuring art experts Berenson and Duveen, Comedy Theatre (2004) [2]
• Little Nell, BBC Radio 4 (2006); Theatre Royal Bath (2007) [3]
• Missing Dates, sequel to Japes (incorporating material from Japes Too and Michael), BBC Radio 4 (1 March 2008)

[edit] Screenplays

• Butley (1974)
• A Month In The Country'' (1987)

[edit] Television Plays

• The Man in the Sidecar (BBC, 1971)
• Plaintiffs and Defendants (BBC, October 1975)
• Two Sundays (BBC, October 1975)
• After Pilkington (BBC, January 1987)
• Old Flames (BBC, 1990)
• They Never Slept (BBC, March 1991)
• Running Late (BBC, October 1992)
• Unnatural Pursuits (semi-autobiographical, two-part satire, BBC, December 1992)
• Femme Fatale (BBC, February 1993)

[edit] Novels

• Colmain, Faber (1963)
• Simple People, Faber (1965)
• A Comeback for Stark (writing as Hamish Reade), Putnam (1968), Faber (1969)
• Little Portia, Faber (1986) ISBN 0571145980
• Breaking Hearts, Faber (1997) ISBN 0571172385

[edit] Memoirs

• An Unnatural Pursuit and Other Pieces, Faber (1985) ISBN 0571137199
• How's that for Telling 'em, Fat Lady?, Faber (1988) ISBN 0571151396
• Fat Chance, Faber (1995) ISBN 0571177921
• Enter A Fox, Faber (2001) ISBN 0571209408
• The Smoking Diaries, Granta Books (2004) ISBN 186207688X [4]
• The Year of the Jouncer, Granta Books (2006) ISBN 1862078963 [5]
• The Last Cigarette: Smoking Diaries Volume 3, Granta Books (2008) ISBN 1847080383 [6][7]

[edit] References

• Theatre Record and its annual Indexes
• Who's Who in the Theatre, Pitman 15th and 16th editions (1972 and 1977), Gale 17th edition (1981)