Anthony Armstrong (writer)

George Anthony Armstrong Willis (1897–1976)[1] was an Anglo-Canadian writer, dramatist and essayist. He was the son of George Hughlings Armstrong Willis, R. N. and Adela Emma Temple Frere; although his parents were both English, he was born in Esquimalt, British Columbia as a consequence of his father's career as a Paymaster Captain in the Royal Navy. They returned to England before his brother's birth in 1900 in Dorset. He was educated at Uppingham School.[2] His brother John Christopher Temple Willis (1900–1969) was Director-General of the Ordnance Survey 1953–1957, and a watercolourist.[3]

During the First World War Willis was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1915[4]. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1916[5]

He married Frances Monica Sealy, and had three children: John Humfrey Armstrong Willis (1928–2012); Antonia Armstrong Willis (1932-2017); and Felicity Armstrong Willis (1936-2006).[6] Antonia married the art expert and gallery owner Jeremy Maas; one of their sons, Rupert, is also an art expert, notable for his appearances on the Antiques Roadshow.

Armstrong contributed to the screenplay of Alfred Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (1937);[7] and several of his own works were adapted into films including The Strange Case of Mr Pelham, which was made into a first-season episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and directed by Hitchcock), and the film The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970).[8]