Margot Bennett (writer)

Margot Bennett
Born Margot Mitchell
(1912-01-19)19 January 1912
Lenzie, Dunbartonshire, Scotland
Died 6 December 1980(1980-12-06) (aged 68)
Camden, London
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

References

  1. ↑ "Catriona Gray Richard & Margot Bennett". Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ↑ "General Fiction Magazine Index". Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "Brave New World After". The New York Times. 20 March 1955.
  4. ↑ Barnes, M (1980). Twentieth Century Crime and Fiction Writers. London: Macmilan. p. 97. ISBN 9781349813681.
  5. ↑ "SF Encyclopedia".
  • 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


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.