View source for Talbot Rothwell

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
[[File:Talbot Rothwell.jpg|thumb|Talbot Rothwell]]
{{Short description|British screenwriter}}
'''Talbot Nelson Conn “Tolly” Rothwell''', [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] (12 November 1916 &ndash; 28 February 1981) was an English [[screenwriter]].

==Life and career==
Rothwell was born in [[Bromley]], [[Kent]], [[England]]. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: [[town clerk]], [[police officer]], and [[Royal Air Force]] [[aviator|pilot]].

He was made a [[prisoner of war]] during [[World War II]] after being shot down over [[Norway]]. It was during this period, while incarcerated in [[Stalag Luft III]], that he started to write. [[Peter Butterworth]] was in the same camp and the two became firm friends, with Rothwell mostly writing and Butterworth performing for camp concerts. This helped to relieve the boredom of camp life and the noise of the concerts helped cover [[tunnel]]ling escape efforts.<ref name="Stevens">{{cite book	
|last= Stevens	
|first= Christopher
|title= Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams
|publisher= John Murray
|year= 2010
|isbn = 978-1-84854-195-5
|page=389
}}</ref>

After World War II Rothwell took up writing as his profession, writing scripts for [[Crazy Gang (comedy group)|The Crazy Gang]], [[Arthur Askey]], [[Ted Ray (comedian)|Ted Ray]] and [[Terry-Thomas]]. His hit play ''[[Queen Elizabeth Slept Here]]'' ran for 349 performances at the [[Novello Theatre|Strand Theatre]] in London's [[West End theatre|West End]]. By the time he submitted a [[screenplay]] to [[Carry On films|''Carry On'' films]] producer [[Peter Rogers]], he was already an established screenwriter.<ref name="Stevens"/> The first screenplay he submitted, on spec, to series producer [[Peter Rogers]] was ''[[Carry On Jack]]'', although the first of his screenplays to be filmed was 'Call me a Cab'. It went on to be renamed ''[[Carry On Cabby]]''.

Peter Rogers liked Rothwell's writing so much that he asked him to become the ''Carry On'' staff writer; Rothwell went on to write a further nineteen ''Carry On'' films.<ref name="Stevens"/> He took the series into a more lewd and bawdy direction from that of ''Carry On'''s first screenwriter, [[Norman Hudis]], but was careful never to stray into [[Pornography|pornographic]] territory. He saw the films as a continuation of [[music hall]] entertainment, [[Max Miller (comedian)|Max Miller]] being a hero of his.

Rothwell also wrote several ''Carry On'' TV specials for Christmas,<ref name="Stevens"/> and the two series ''[[Up Pompeii!]]'' starring [[Frankie Howerd]].

Rothwell was awarded the OBE in 1977 for his services to the cinema industry. In the mid 1970s he retired due to a prolonged illness. He spent his final years in [[Worthing]], and died aged 64.

In April 2007, Rothwell's line "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!" (delivered by [[Kenneth Williams]] in ''[[Carry On Cleo]]'') was voted the greatest one-liner in movie history by a thousand comedy writers, actors, impresarios and members of the public for the launch of Sky Movies Comedy Channel.<ref name=BBC20070404 >{{cite news |title=Carry On quip tops one-liner poll |date=4 April 2007 |newspaper=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6524729.stm}}</ref> Rothwell "borrowed" the line (with permission) from [[Frank Muir]] and [[Denis Norden]], who had used it on their radio show ''[[Take It From Here]]''.<ref name=test>{{cite book |title=A Kentish Lad |first=Frank |last=Muir |publisher=Bantam Press |isbn=0-593-03452-X |date=1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/kentishladautobi0000muir_u8q6/page/141 141] |url=https://archive.org/details/kentishladautobi0000muir_u8q6/page/141 }}</ref>

==Selected filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''[[Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Don't Blame the Stork]]'' (1954)
* ''[[What Every Woman Wants (1954 film)|What Every Woman Wants]]'' (1954)
* ''[[The Crowded Day]]'' (1954)
* ''[[My Wife's Family (1956 film)|My Wife's Family]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Stars in Your Eyes]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Make Mine a Million]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Carry On Spying]]'' (1964)
* ''[[Carry On Cleo]]'' (1964)
* ''[[Carry On Jack]]''
* ''[[The Big Job (film)|The Big Job]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Three Hats for Lisa]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Carry On Screaming]]'' (1966)
Carry on loving (1970)
* ''[[Carry On Abroad]]'' (1972)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0745349|name=Talbot Rothwell}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box |
before= [[Norman Hudis]] |
title=[[Carry On (film series)|Carry On]] films scriptwriter |
years=1963 - 1974|
after=[[Dave Freeman (British writer)|Dave Freeman]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothwell, Talbot}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Officers in English police forces]]
[[Category:English male screenwriters]]
[[Category:English television writers]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People from Bromley]]
[[Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Germany]]
[[Category:British male television writers]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]