Ted Willis
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Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (January 13, 1914[1] - December 22, 1992[1]), commonly known as Ted Willis, was a British television dramatist who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party.
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[edit] Political life
Willis was elected Chairman of the Labour League of Youth as the candidate of the left in 1937. In 1941 he became Secretary General of the Young Communist League. He was a charismatic personality and an excellent public speaker. He often spoke at meetings in favour of opening a second front in order to help the Red Army which was bearing the brunt of the Nazi onslaught.
[edit] Career
His passion for writing was first manifested in the plays he wrote during the war for the Unity Theatre in Islington. He was best known for writing the television series Dixon of Dock Green which ran for more than twenty years, and he also wrote nine films. He was Chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain from 1958 to 1964.
[edit] Honours and awards
On December 23, 1963 he was awarded a life peerage with the title Baron Willis, of Chislehurst in the County of Kent, on a Labour Party nomination[1].
[edit] Personal life
He served in the Royal Fusiliers in World War II. He married the actress Audrey Hale in 1944[2] and they had a son and a daughter. He died of a heart attack[1] at his home in Chislehurst, Kent in 1992, leaving his widow Audrey, daughter Sally, and son John Willis, a BBC director[1].
This article about a writer or poet from the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Willis, Ted. Whatever Happened to Tom Mix ? The Story of One of My Lives. ISBN 0304936758
- Willis, Ted. Evening All: Fifty Years Over a Hot Typewriter. ISBN 0333546865
