Gerald Savory

Gerald Savory
Born Gerald Douglas Savory
(1909-11-17)November 17, 1909
London, England
Died February 9, 1996(1996-02-09) (aged 86)
England
Occupation Writer, television producer
Spouse(s) Teo Dunbar, 1938–??; divorced
  • Althea Murphy
    (m. 1950; d. 1952)
  • Annette Carell
    (m. 1953; d. 1967)
  • Sheila Brennan
    (m. 1970; his death 1996)

Gerald Douglas Savory (17 November 1909 – 9 February 1996) was an English writer and television producer specialising in comedies.[1][2]

Biography

The son of Kenneth Douglas Savory and actress Grace Lane (1877–1956),[3][4] he was educated at Bradfield College and worked as a stockbroker's clerk before turning to the stage (Hull Repertory Theatre Company 1931–33), first as an actor then a writer.[2][5] His play George and Margaret, written while out of work as an actor, ran for two years at Wyndham's Theatre and a year at the Piccadilly.[6] It then transferred to Broadway, where it ran for 86 performances, and was later filmed.[7][8] His earliest work in the film industry was as a dialogue writer for director Alfred Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (1937).[1]

He lived in the USA in the 1940s and 50s writing for film and television, and became an American citizen.[2] After returning to England in the mid 1950s he became a writer, producer and production manager for Granada Television, producing five episodes of ITV Play of the Week; adapting Saki, J.B. Priestley, Noël Coward and Tennessee Williams for television. He then joined the BBC, first as Head of Serials, then Head of Plays.[4] He produced five episodes of the unsuccessful series Churchill's People (1975–76) and six of the eight episodes of Love in a Cold Climate for Thames Television in 1980.[9][10]

Personal life

Savory was married four times but had no children. His first marriage, to writer Elizabeth "Teo" Dunbar,[11][12] ended in divorce. In 1950, he married American actress Althea Murphy (1916–1952), who died of leukemia in 1952.[13][14][15] In 1953, he married actress Annette Carell, who died by suicide in 1967.[16][17] He was survived by his fourth wife, actress Sheila Brennan, whom he married in 1970.[18][3]

He died in England on 9 February 1996.[19]

Plays

  • George and Margaret 1937[20] (377 performances in the West End, filmed in 1940)
  • Hand in Glove 1944 with Charles K. Freeman based on his own novel Hughie Roddis[21]
  • A Likely Tale 1957[22]
  • A Month of Sundays 1957
  • So Many Children 1959
  • Cup and Saucer 1961
  • Twinkling of an Eye 1965

Novels

  • Hughie Roddis 1942
  • Behold This Dreamer 1943

Television

References

  1. 1 2 "Gerald Savory".
  2. 1 2 3 "Gerald Savory - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  3. 1 2 Who's Who In The Theatre (15th ed.). Pitman. 1972. p. 1379.
  4. 1 2 Shivas, Mark (7 March 1996). "Obituary: Gerald Savory". The Independent.
  5. ↑ "Gerald Savory - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  6. ↑ "Production of George & Margaret - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
  7. ↑ League, The Broadway. "George and Margaret – Broadway Play – Original - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  8. ↑ "George and Margaret (1940)".
  9. ↑ "Churchill's People - 1970-1979 - Guardian Century". www.theguardian.com.
  10. ↑ "Love in a Cold Climate (1980) - Donald McWhinnie - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie.
  11. ↑ "New York, New York, Marriage License Indexes, 1907-1995". Retrieved 13 May 2018 – via Ancestry.com.
  12. ↑ "United States Census, 1940". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 15 May 2018 – via FamilySearch.org. (registration required)
  13. ↑ "Marriages". Billboard. 30 December 1950. p. 28.
  14. ↑ "The Final Curtain". Billboard. 8 November 1952. p. 65.
  15. ↑ "Obituary: Althea Murphy Savory". Wilmette Life. Wilmette, Illinois. November 6, 1952. p. 63.
  16. ↑ Sullivan, Ed (31 August 1953). "Talk of the Town". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Annette Carell". The Stage and Television Today (453). 26 October 1967. p. 9. (subscription required)
  18. ↑ "Obituaries: Gerald Savory". The Times. London. 13 February 1996. p. 17.
  19. ↑ Shorter, Eric (2 April 1996). "Gerald Savory: Dramatics of Live Television". The Guardian. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Stevens, Christopher (2010). Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams. John Murray. p. 48. ISBN 1-84854-195-3.
  21. ↑ League, The Broadway. "Gerald Savory – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  22. ↑ "A Likely Tale - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
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