Christopher Fry
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Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, notably The Lady's Not for Burning, which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.
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Bibliography
Film and TV writing
Beginning in the 1950s, many of Fry's plays were adapted for the screen, mainly television. One of the most recent was The Lady’s Not For Burning for Yorkshire TV, starring Kenneth Branagh, in 1987.
In 1954, he collaborated with John Cannan on a screenplay for a film version of John Gay’s The Beggar's Opera, for director Peter Brook, starring Laurence Olivier. He was also one of the writers of the classic 1959 film, Ben-Hur, directed by William Wyler. But he was uncredited for his efforts on the epic, as was Gore Vidal. The sole writing credit and Academy Award nomination instead went to Karl Tunberg. He collaborated on other screenplays including Barabbas, which starred Anthony Quinn in 1961, and The Bible: In the Beginning, directed by John Huston, in 1966. Other screenplays include the documentary The Queen Is Crowned (1953).
His television movie scripts are The Canary (1950), The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1968), The Brontës of Haworth (1973), The Best of Enemies (1976), Sister Dora (1977), and Star Over Bethlehem (1981).
Works
- She Shall Have Music (1934), with Monte Crick and F. Eyton
- Open Door (1936)
- The Boy With a Cart (1938)
- Robert of Sicily: Opera for Children (1938), music by Michael Tippett
- Seven at a Stroke: A Play for Children (1939), music by Michael Tippett
- The Tower (1939)
- Thursday's Child (1939), music by Martin Shaw
- A Phoenix Too Frequent (1946)
- The Lady's Not for Burning (1948)
- Thor, With Angels (1948)
- The Firstborn (1948)
- Venus Observed (1950)
- Ring Round the Moon (1950), adapted from Jean Anouilh's L'Invitation au Château
- A Winter's Tale (1951) music by Fry with arrangements by Leslie Bridgewater
- A Sleep of Prisoners (1951)
- The Dark is Light Enough (1954)
- The Lark (1955), adapted from Jean Anouilh's play
- Tiger At The Gates (1956), adapted from Jean Giraudoux's play
- Crown of the Year (1958), music by Michael Tippett
- Duel of Angels (1958), adapted from Jean Giraudoux's play Pour Lucrèce
- Curtmantle (1961)
- Judith (1962), adapted from Jean Giraudoux's play
- The Boy and the Magic (1964), adapted from Colette's play
- Peer Gynt (1970), based on Johan Fillinger's translation of Henrik Ibsen's play
- A Yard of Sun (1970)
- Cyrano de Bergerac (1975), adapted from Edmond Rostand's play
- Can You Find Me: A Family History (1979)
- One Thing More (or Caedmon Construed) (1986)
- A Ringing of Bells (2001)
Awards
- 1948 Shaw Prize Fund for The Lady's Not for Burning
- 1951 William Foyle Poetry Prize for Venus Observed
- 1951 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for The Lady's Not for Burning
- 1952 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Venus Observed
- 1956 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for The Tiger At The Gates
- 1956 Tony Award nomination for The Tiger At The Gates
- 1962 Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry
- 1962 Heinemann Award, Royal Society of Literature for Curmantle
- 1966 Doctor of Arts from Manchester Metropolitan University
- 1971 Writers Guild Best British Television Dramatization award nomination for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
- 1987 Doctor of Letters from Oxford University
- 1988 Honorary Fellow of Manchester Metropolitan University
- 1994 Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University
- 1994 Doctor of Letters from University of Sussex
- 2000 Benson Medal Fellow and Recipient
