Willis Hall
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Willis Hall (6 April 1929 – 7 March 2005) was an English playwright and radio and television writer who drew on his working class roots in Leeds for much of his writings.
His best-known work was Billy Liar (1960), co-written with lifelong friend and collaborator Keith Waterhouse, and based on the latter's novel. Hall's rise to prominence originated from his play about British soldiers in the Malayan jungle, The Long and the Short and the Tall (1959).
He wrote more than a dozen children's books, including a series about a family called the Hollins who meet a vegetarian vampire called Count Alucard. He also wrote a book, Henry Hollins and the Dinosaur. His membership in the Magic Circle was a source of inspiration for these books. He also wrote 40 radio and television plays, as well as contributing to many TV series, including The Return of the Antelope and Minder.
He wrote a musical about the scarecrow Worzel Gummidge, and others based on the books Treasure Island and The Wind in the Willows. He also wrote Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure.
[edit] Personal life
Willis Hall was married for a time to the actress Jill Bennett; the marriage ended in divorce. He subsequently married Dorothy Kingsmill. That relationship also ended in divorce. In 1973 he was married for the final time to actress and author Valerie Shute, who survived him.
[edit] Death
He died, aged 75, in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.
[edit] External links
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