Royston Morley
John Royston Morley (25 August 1912 – 14 October 1991), was a British television producer, director and writer. He was among the earliest television producers, and also trained new producers for the BBC and in Australia.
Life and career
[edit ]Morley was born in Kidderminster, Worcestershire.[1] [2]
His early work for BBC television, beginning in 1937, included a regular slot in Cecil Madden's "Picture Page", a magazine programme of general and topical interest.[3] In 1937 Morley married a BBC colleague, Isa Benzie. They had one daughter.[2] Morley added television drama to his responsibilities, and produced or directed abbreviated versions of plays by Shakespeare, Wilde, Ibsen, John Webster, J.B. Priestley and P.G. Wodehouse among others.[3] In April 1939 he produced a studio presentation of the Sadler's Wells Ballet in The Rake's Progress .[3]
The fledgling television service was taken off the air during the Second World War, and Morley moved to radio, writing as well as producing programmes.[3] When BBC television returned after the war, Morley resumed his pre-war responsibilities, producing "Picture Page" and a wide range of drama, both classic, such as Pygmalion and King Lear , and modern works by Thornton Wilder, Eugene O'Neill, Luigi Pirandello, Jean Cocteau and others. His own play, The Guilty Party was broadcast in 1953.[3] In addition to directing, Morley was also a trainer. The BBC was interested in recruiting potential directors from people with a theatrical background, and among those who comprised what became known as "Morley's Army" were Kenneth Tynan, Tony Richardson and Peter Cotes.[4]
In 1956 Morley went to Australia to train staff for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Sydney.[5] His contribution to the ABC at this time has been described as crucial.[6] While in Australia he directed productions of An Enemy of the People (1958) and Hamlet (1959).[7]
After returning to Britain in the 1960s, Morley produced the long-running BBC television series Dr Finlay's Casebook , followed by two other drama series in the early 1970s, Brett and The Regiment.[3] These were his last work for the BBC. In the 1970s he worked for the commercial station Associated Television, and in 1980 he directed a few episodes of the soap opera Crossroads .[1] As well as his television work, Morley directed Pirandello's play, Six Characters in Search of an Author at the Arts Theatre in 1954,[8] and the 1961 cinema film, Attempt to Kill , based on an Edgar Wallace detective story.[1]
Morley died on 14 October 1991 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.[1]
Select credits
[edit ]- Pygmalion (1948)
- The Admirable Crichton (1950)
- Point of Return (1958)
- The Gladys Half-Hour (1958)
- Chance of a Ghost (1958)
- An Enemy of the People (1958)
- Sixty Point Bold (1959)
- The Seagull (1959)
- Hamlet (1959)
References
[edit ]- ^ a b c d "Royston Morley", British Film Institute. Retrieved 11 February 2018
- ^ a b "Obituary: Isa Benzie", The Times, 13 July 1988, p. 18
- ^ a b c d e f "Royston Morley", BBC Genome. Retrieved 11 February 2018
- ^ "Obituary: Mr Michael Barry", The Times, 4 July 1988, p. 16
- ^ "He'll teach TV". The Argus (Melbourne) . Victoria, Australia. 5 September 1956. p. 3. Retrieved 23 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Sitsky, Bob (2004). "Alan Burke talks about the early days of Television". ABC TV at Gore Hill in the Fifties. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Hamlet on TV". The Australian Women's Weekly . Vol. 26, no. 5[?]. Australia. 27 May 1959. p. 50. Retrieved 23 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Arts Theatre", The Times, 24 June 1954, p. 10
External links
[edit ]- Royston Morley at IMDb
- Royston Morley at BFI