Johnny Speight

2022-06-24T13:14:57Z

2A02:C7E:3812:A400:D1C2:B4B9:CF0A:908B:

{{Short description|English television writer}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Johnny Speight
| image = Writer_Johnny_Speight.jpg
| caption = Cropped still by [[Lewis Morley]], 1962, © [[National Portrait Gallery, London|Lewis Morley Archive]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1920|6|2}}
| birth_place = [[Canning Town]], London, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1998|7|5|1920|6|2}}
| death_place = [[Chorleywood]], Hertfordshire, England
| spouse = {{marriage|Connie Barrett |1956}}
| children = 3
| occupation = Radio scriptwriter, TV screenwriter
| period = 1955–98
| genre = Television
| notableworks = ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'' (1965–75)<br>''[[Curry and Chips|Curry & Chips]]'' (1969)<br>''[[In Sickness and in Health]]'' (1985–92)}}

'''Johnny Speight''' (2 June 1920 – 5 July 1998) was an English television scriptwriter of many classic British [[sitcoms]].

He emerged in the mid-1950s. He wrote for radio comics [[Frankie Howerd]], [[Vic Oliver]], [[Arthur Askey]], and [[Cyril Fletcher]]. For television he wrote for [[Morecambe & Wise]], and [[Peter Sellers]], as well as ''[[Arthur Haynes|The Arthur Haynes Show]]''.<ref>Dust jacket, ''For Richer, For Poorer'', Johnny Speight; {{ISBN|0-563-36269-3}}</ref> Later, he began to write ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'', which included his most famous creation, the controversial bigot [[Alf Garnett]].<ref name=profile/> His shows often explored the themes of racism and [[sexism]] through satire.<ref name=independent>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/speight-of-the-nation-1169000.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/speight-of-the-nation-1169000.html |archive-date=14 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Speight of the nation|date=1 August 1998|website=The Independent}}</ref>

==Life and career==
John Speight was born into an Irish Catholic family in [[Canning Town]],<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=70207|title=Speight, John [Johnny] (1920–1998)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f1a4246|title=Johnny Speight|website=BFI}}</ref> [[West Ham]], Essex (now [[Greater London]]).<ref name=bbcobit>{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/127045.stm|title=BBC News | Entertainment | Alf Garnett's creator dies|website=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> He left school at 14, and after a series of odd jobs, tried his hand at writing, looking to [[George Bernard Shaw]] as inspiration.<ref name=bbcobit/> He began contributing scripts to comedy shows in 1955, starting with ''[[Great Scott - It's Maynard!]]''<ref name=profile/> He later contributed to ''[[Sykes and a...]]'' (1960–65), which starred [[Eric Sykes]], [[Hattie Jacques]] and [[Richard Wattis]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1374243/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Sykes and a... (1960-65)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> Speight was one of many writers on that series which also included Sykes, [[John Antrobus]] and [[Spike Milligan]]. He created the iconic working class tramp figure played by [[Arthur Haynes]] in the latter's long-running and top-rating [[Associated TeleVision|ATV]] comedy series.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/838493/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Haynes, Arthur (1914-1966) Biography|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> Haynes died in 1966.<ref name=profile>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/465520/index.html Profile], screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2014.</ref>

In 1965, Speight wrote a BBC TV pilot which became the 1966 series ''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'' featuring [[Warren Mitchell]] as Alf Garnett, a [[reactionary]] [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative-voting]] working-class man with a chip on his shoulder and an angry word on everything.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/465503/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Till Death Us Do Part (1966-75)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> Garnett became one of the most memorable characters in British TV history.<ref name=bbcnews/> The 1971 US sitcom ''[[All in the Family]]'' was based on this series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2015/01/5-classic-american-sitcoms-british-first |title=6 American Sitcoms Based on British Originals |author= |date=5 January 2015 |website=[[BBC America]]|access-date=15 September 2018}}</ref> Also in 1965, he did uncredited screenplay work for the film [[You Must Be Joking! (1965 film)|You Must be Joking]]. Speight also played "Barmey Harry" in the second film [[spin-off (media)|spin-off]], ''[[The Alf Garnett Saga]]'', in 1972 .

Speight's later series ''[[Curry and Chips]]'' (1969), was a more controversial sitcom from [[LWT]] for the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] channel, soon cancelled on the instructions of the [[Independent Broadcasting Authority]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/535237/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Curry and Chips (1969)|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> His next comedy was ''[[For Richer...For Poorer]]'' (1975), a one-off pilot which featured [[Harry H. Corbett]] as a left-wing answer to Alf Garnett.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/f/forricherforpoor_1299001176.shtml|title=BBC - Comedy Guide - For Richer...For Poorer|date=26 March 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050326092556/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/f/forricherforpoor_1299001176.shtml|archive-date=26 March 2005}}</ref> After a brief return of ''Till Death Us Do Part'' on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in 1981 as ''[[Till Death...]]'', Alf Garnett returned with a vengeance on the BBC's ''[[In Sickness and in Health]]'' which ran from 1985 to 1992.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=bbcnews>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-34820371|title=Actor Warren Mitchell dies aged 89|work=BBC News|date=14 November 2015}}</ref> In 1985, he wrote the unbroadcast pilot "Jewel in the Crown" starring [[Spike Milligan]] and [[Eric Sykes]], with Milligan wearing blackface and making racially charged jokes, while adopting a Pakistani accent.<ref name =Youtube>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2G9f1p4EM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/mh2G9f1p4EM| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Eric Sykes & Spike Milligan in The Jewel in the Crown by Johnny Speight!date=1 November 2019|website = [[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1988 Speight wrote a set of special short sketches for inclusion in London's Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) in a feature called "Ask Alf". Using random access video visitors were invited to ask Alf Garnet his thoughts on a variety of sunbjects including museums. Warren Mitchell recorded the short sketches free of charge for MOMI while on tour in Australia.

Speight's work brought him success, but despite driving a [[Rolls-Royce]], he remained a life-long socialist.<ref name=bbcobit/>

He was a subject of the television programme ''[[This Is Your Life (UK TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' in May 1970 when he was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

==Death==
In 1998, Speight died of [[pancreatic cancer]], aged 78 at his home in [[Chorleywood]].<ref>[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12259004.Johnny_Speight__the_writer_who_created_Alf_Garnett__dies_of_cancer_aged_78/ Johnny Speight, the writer who created Alf Garnett, dies of cancer aged 78]. Retrieved 29 October 2016.</ref> [[LWT]] put forward a series of specials featuring [[Warren Mitchell]] as Alf Garnett, giving his thoughts on a variety of subjects.<ref name=independent/> The programmes were originally shelved by ITV controller [[David Liddiment]].

==TV writing credits==
*''[[Great Scott - It's Maynard!]]'' (1955)
*''Evans Abode'' (1956)
*''Frankie Howerd'' (1956)
*''The Dickie Valentine Show'' (1956)
*''Two's Company'' (1956)
*''Early to Braden'' (1957)
*''That's Life, Says Max Wall'' (1957)
*''The Arthur Haynes Show'' (1957)
*''Frankie Howerd In...'' (1958)
*''The Show of 8 April (Seven Days Early)'' (1958)
*''The Cyril Fletcher Show'' (1959)
*''Ladies and Gentle-Men'' (1960)
*''[[Sykes and a...]]'' (1960)
*''[[The Compartment]]'' (1961)
*''[[That Was the Week That Was]]'' (1962)
*''Shamrot'' (1963)
*''The Graham Stark Show'' (1964)
*''[[Till Death Us Do Part]]'' (1965)
*''To Lucifer – A Son'' (1967)
*''If There Weren't Any Blacks You'd Have to Invent Them'' (1968)
*''[[Curry and Chips]]'' (1969)
*''Spate of Speight'' (1969)
*''[[All in the Family]]'' (1971)
*''Them'' (1972)
*''Frankie Howerd in Ulster'' (1973)
*''Francis Howerd in Concert'' (1974)
*''Marty Back Together Again'' (1974)
*''[[For Richer...For Poorer]]'' (1975)
*''The Mike Reid Show'' (1976)
*''[[Spooner's Patch]]'' (with [[Ray Galton]] 1979)
*''The Tea Ladies'' (with Ray Galton 1979)
*''The Thoughts of chairman Alf at Christmas'' (1980)
*''Till Death...'' (1981)
*''[[The Lady Is a Tramp (TV series)|The Lady Is A Tramp]]'' (1983)
*''[[In Sickness and in Health]]'' (1985)
*''Carrott Confidential'' (1987)
*''The Nineteenth Hole'' (1989)
*''A Word With Alf'' (1997)
*''An Audience With Alf Garnett'' (1997)
*''The Thoughts of Chairman Alf'' (1998)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0817624}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Johnny Speight}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speight, Johnny}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer]]
[[Category:English television writers]]
[[Category:People from Canning Town]]
[[Category:People from Chorleywood]]
[[Category:British male television writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]

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Johnny Speight