Margot Bennett (writer)
Margot Bennett | |
---|---|
Born | Margot Mitchell 19 January 1912 Lenzie, Dunbartonshire, Scotland |
Died | 6 December 1980 Camden, London | (aged 68)
Occupation | author |
Language | English |
Nationality | Scottish |
Period | 1943-1968 |
Genres | crime, thriller, science fiction |
Notable awards | Gold Dagger Award |
Spouse | Richard Bennett (1938-1980; her death) |
Children | 4 |
Margot Bennett (19 January 1912 – 6 December 1980) was a Scottish screenwriter and author of crime and thriller novels.
Biography
Born Margot Mitchell (some sources say Margot Miller), Bennett was born in Lenzie, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. She was educated in Scotland and Australia. Before publishing fiction, she worked as an advertising copywriter in Sydney and London.
During the Spanish Civil War, she worked as a nurse for the Spanish Medical Aid. During the war, she met Richard Bennett (1912-1999), an English journalist and writer who had served in the Spanish Republican Army since 1936. During the conflict, he had written broadcasts for Radio Catalan. They were married in 1938, the ceremony being conducted by a Republican soldier.[1] Bennett was a regular writer for Lilliput magazine between 1943 and 1950.[2] She is best remembered for her crime fiction from the 1940s and 1950s, though she also wrote contemporary literature, thrillers and a science guide, as well as two science fiction novels, one of which was The Long Way Back, about African colonization of Britain following a nuclear holocaust.[3]
Bennett had three sons and a daughter.[4] One of her sons died from muscular dystrophy.
Bennett wrote scripts for television, including contributions to Maigret, Emergency-Ward 10, Market in Honey Lane and Quick Before They Catch Us. She also wrote the screenplays for her books which were adapted for the screen.
Bennett was a supporter of left-wing politics, and was also a supporter for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Bennett lived latterly in London. She died 0n 6 December 1980, aged 68.
Bibliography
Novels
Title | Date | Genre | Publisher | ISBN | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Time to Change Hats | 1945 | Crime | Nicholson | Features John Davies | |
Away Went the Little Fish | 1946 | Crime | Nicholson | Features John Davies | |
The Golden Pebble | 1948 | Thriller | Nicholson | Not published in the USA | |
The Widow of Bath | 1952 | Crime | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0754085929 | Adapted into a TV serial in 1959 |
Farewell Crown and Goodbye King | 1952 | Thriller | Eyre & Spottiswoode | ||
The Long Way Back | 1955 | Science Fiction | The Bodley Head | ||
The Man Who Didn't Fly | 1955 | Thriller | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0745186246 | Shortlisted for Gold Dagger Award. Adapted into a TV episode by Kraft Theatre in 1958. |
Someone from the Past | 1958 | Crime | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0754086046 | Won Gold Dagger Award |
That Summer's Earthquake | 1964 | Literary Fiction | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 085456733X | Not published in the USA |
The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Atomic Radiation | 1964 | Science | Penguin | ||
The Furious Masters | 1968 | Science Fiction | Eyre & Spottiswoode | 0413443000 | Published in Dutch in 1970 |
Short stories
Title | Date | Genre | Published | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
An Old Fashioned Poker for my Uncle's Head | 1946 | Science Fiction | Lilliput, issue #110 | Reprinted 1954 in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, issue #36)[5] |
No Bath for the Browns | 1945 | Thriller | Lilliput, issue #101 | Reprinted 1965 in Alfred Hitchcock Presents Stories Not for the Nervous |
Television Projects Contributed To
Series | No. of Episodes | Broadcast Date(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
London Playhouse | 1 (anthology) | 1956 | Episode: The Sun Divorce. Believed to be lost |
The Man who Didn't Fly | 1 (anthology) | 1958 | Episode of Kraft Theatre. Based on her own novel |
Emergency-Ward 10 | 15 | 1958-1959 | |
The Widow of Bath | 6 | 1959 | Based on her own novel. All episodes lost |
The Third Man | 2 | 1959 | |
They Met in a City | 1 (anthology) | 1961 | Episode: The Spanish Waiter |
Suspense | 1 (anthology) | 1962 | Episode: Killer in the Band |
Maigret | 7 | 1960-1962 | |
The Flying Swan | 1 | 1965 | |
The Big Spender | 5 | 1966 | All episodes lost |
Quick Before They Catch Us | 4 | 1966 | Serial: The Tungsten Ring. All episodes lost |
Market in Honey Lane | 7 | 1968 |
Screenplays
- The Man Who Liked Funerals (1959)
- The Crowning Touch (1959)
References
- ^ "Catriona Gray Richard & Margot Bennett". Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ "General Fiction Magazine Index". Retrieved 18 March 2017.
- ^ "Brave New World After". The New York Times. 20 March 1955.
- ^ Barnes, M (1980). Twentieth Century Crime and Fiction Writers. London: Macmilan. p. 97. ISBN 9781349813681.
- ^ "SF Encyclopedia".
External links
- Obituary, The Times, 6 December 1980
- "Do You Write Under Your Own Name?". Martin Edwards' Crime Writing Blog. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- "Margot Bennett Bibliography". Classic Crime Fiction. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- "Margot Bennett (II)". Imdb. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
- Margot Bennett at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Use dmy dates from November 2012
- 1912 births
- 1980 deaths
- 20th-century Scottish writers
- Scottish crime fiction writers
- People from Lenzie
- Scottish science fiction writers
- 20th-century British novelists
- Scottish women novelists
- 20th-century British women writers
- Women mystery writers
- British science fiction writers
- Women science fiction and fantasy writers
- Scottish writer stubs