Butley

AuthorSimon Gray

Simon Gray CBE (1936 - 2008)

Simon Gray was born on Hayling Island and went to Portsmouth Grammar School. He read English at Cambridge and spent 20 years as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London. For eight years in the late Fifties and early Sixties he also taught in a foreign language school not so very different from the Cull-Loomis School of English - the setting of his 1981 play 'Quartermaine's Terms'.

His first novel, 'Colmain', was published in 1963 and was followed by 'Simple People', 'Little Portia' and 'Breaking Hearts'. (He also wrote 'A Comeback for Stark' under the pseudonym Hamish Reade). His career in drama began when he adapted one of his own short stories, 'The Caramel Crisis', for television in 1966. A long string of successful plays began in 1967 and his 40 published dramatic works include 'Butley' the 'Rear Column' and 'Stage Struck'. More recently he wrote 'After Pilkington' for the BBC and 'Melon' for the West End.

In his later years he became well-known for his memoirs, which included his thoughts and reflections dealing with his terminal cancer. In 1990 he was given the BAFTA Writer's Award and in 2005 he received a CBE for his services to drama and literature.