Nell Dunn

Nell Dunn
Born (1936-06-09) 9 June 1936
London, England
Occupation Playwright, novelist, screenwriter
Nationality United Kingdom
Spouse Jeremy Sandford (1957–1979)
Information
Notable work(s)

Up the Junction (1963)

Steaming (1981)

Nell Mary Dunn (born 9 June 1936) is an English playwright, screenwriter, and author.

Biography

Early years

The daughter of Sir Philip Dunn, she was born in London and educated at a convent, which she left at the age of fourteen. Although she came from an upper-class background, in 1959 she moved to Battersea and made friends in the neighbourhood and worked for a time in a sweet factory. This world inspired much of what Dunn would later write. Dunn was married to writer Jeremy Sandford from 1957 to 1979; the couple had three sons.

Career

Dunn came to notice with the publication of Up the Junction (1963), a series of short stories set in South London, some of which had already appeared in the New Statesman. The book, awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, was a controversial success at the time because of its vibrant, realistic and nonjudgmental portrait of the working class protagonists. It was adapted for television by Dunn (and Ken Loach) for The Wednesday Play series which was directed by Ken Loach and broadcast in November 1965. A cinema film version was released in 1968.

A collection of interviews, Talking to Women (1965), preceded the publication of her first novel Poor Cow in 1967. This was a bestseller and also achieved a succès de scandale. Poor Cow was made into a film starring Carol White and Terence Stamp, under Loach's direction.

Her later adult books are Grandmothers (1991) and My Silver Shoes (1996). Dunn's play Steaming was produced in 1981 and a television film Every Breath You Take, was transmitted in 1987. She has also written Sisters, a film script commissioned by the BBC.

She won the 1982 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Personal life

Dunn became a Patron of Dignity in Dying after her partner, Dan Oestreicher, died of lung cancer.

Works

Plays

Film script

References

  1. ↑ Lubin Odana (31 January 1968). "Poor Cow (1967)". IMDb. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.