Robert Bolt

Robert Oxton Bolt was a British playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. Born August 15, 1924, in Sale, United Kingdom, and died February 20, 1995, in Petersfield, United Kingdom, he was born. The son of a modest merchant, he attended Manchester Grammar School. He later acknowledged that he... More

Robert Oxton Bolt was a British playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. Born August 15, 1924, in Sale, United Kingdom, and died February 20, 1995, in Petersfield, United Kingdom, he was born. The son of a modest merchant, he attended Manchester Grammar School. He later acknowledged that he took little advantage of what was offered to him at that time. He began working in an insurance agency, then enrolled at the University of Manchester, where he earned an academic degree in History. An additional year at the University of Exeter led to his becoming a schoolmaster, first at a village school in Devon, then for seven years at Millfield. During this time, he wrote a dozen plays for radio, which were indeed broadcast. Encouraged by the success of his play "Flowering Cherry," staged in London in 1958 and starring Celia Johnson and Ralph Richardson, he gave up teaching to devote himself to writing. In 1960, two of his plays achieved great success: The Tiger and the Horse and A Man For All Seasons. A heart attack left him paralyzed in 1979, and after a long illness, he died in 1995.