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For other uses, see William Russell.
William Russell (born 23 August 1947 in Whiston, Merseyside) is a British playwright, screenwriter, author, lyricist, and composer. His best-known works are Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine, and Blood Brothers.
[edit] LifeRussell grew up in a working class background in Liverpool, England. After leaving school with one O-level in English, he first became a ladies hairdresser and ran his own salon. Russell then undertook a variety of jobs, also writing songs which were performed in local folk clubs. He also contributed songs and sketches to local radio programmes. At 20 years of age, he returned to college and became a teacher in the Toxteth area of Liverpool. Around this time he met his later wife, Annie, and became interested in writing drama. [edit] CareerHis first success was a play about The Beatles called John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert commissioned for the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and transferring to the West End in 1974. Three of his later plays became outstanding successes. One was Educating Rita (1980), about a working-class female hairdresser and her Open University teacher. The semi-autobiographical Educating Rita was made into a film in 1983 starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. The second was the musical Blood Brothers for which Russell also composed the music. It was first produced in 1983, opening in Liverpool and then transferring to London at the Phoenix Theatre. Bill Kenwright opened a new production in 1988, which was highly successful and has celebrated its twentieth anniversary, and the show also ran on Broadway in 1993. his third hit play was Shirley Valentine, which first opened in Liverpool in 1986 before a new production opened in London in 1988 starring Pauline Collins. It was also made into a successful film, in 1989, again with Collins in the title role. Russell received BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for both Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine. Russell has written songs since the early 1960s, and has written the music to most of his plays and musicals. He also penned "The Show", the theme song to the 1985 ITV drama series Connie, which became a top 30 hit for vocalist Rebecca Storm. His first album, Hoovering the Moon, was released in 2003. Russell has also written television projects, including the one-off drama, Our Day Out, which aired in 1977. He penned another television drama, One Summer, which aired as a five-part series on Channel 4 in 1983, starring a young David Morrissey. In 2000, Russell published his first novel, The Wrong Boy. In epistolary form, main character Raymond Marks, a 19-year old from Manchester, tells the story of his life in letters to his hero Morrissey. [edit] List of plays, novels, musicals, and films (incomplete)
[edit] Albums
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] The Willy Russell CentreThe Willy Russell Centre for Children and Adults Who Stammer, opened in 1995 in Liverpool. The centre took Russell's name because his writing in many of his plays puts forward the philosophy that anyone is capable of change whatever obstacles may be in their path, one shared by the centre. [edit] External links
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