Bill Naughton

{{Short description|Irish-British playwright and author}} {{other people||William Naughton (disambiguation){{!}}William Naughton}} {{Use British English|date=December 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox writer |name=Bill Naughton |image=Writer_Bill_Naughton.jpg |caption=Bill and Erna Naughton, photographed by [[Colin O'Brien (photographer)|Colin O'Brien]], 1962 |birth_name= |birth_date={{birth date|df=yes|1910|6|12}} |birth_place=[[Ballyhaunis]], [[County Mayo]], Ireland |death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1992|1|9|1910|6|12}} |death_place=[[Ballasalla]], [[Isle of Man]] |genre=[[Fiction]] |occupation=[[Playwright]], [[screenwriter]], [[novelist]] }}

'''William John Francis Naughton''' (12 June 1910 – 9 January 1992) was an [[Irish people|Irish]]-born British [[playwright]] and [[author]], best known for his play ''[[Alfie (play)|Alfie]]''.<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|title=Bill Naughton, 81, a British Playwright Who Created 'Alfie'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/arts/bill-naughton-81-a-british-playwright-who-created-alfie.html|work=New York Times|accessdate=19 June 2012|author=Glenn Collins|date=11 January 1992}}</ref>

==Early life== Born into relative poverty in [[Ballyhaunis]], [[County Mayo]], Ireland, he moved to [[Bolton]], [[Lancashire]], England, in 1914 as a child.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/bill-naughton|title=Bolton Museums - Bill Naughton|date=27 January 2010|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127165957/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/bill-naughton|archive-date=27 January 2010}}</ref> There he attended Saint Peter and Paul's School, and worked as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver before he started writing with his wife.<ref name=NYT/>

==Writing career== {{unreferenced section|date=August 2020}} His stage play, ''[[Alfie (play)|Alfie]]'', adapted for the [[Alfie (1966 film)|1966 film]] starring [[Michael Caine]] in the eponymous role, originated in a radio play, ''Alfie Elkins and His Little Life'', first broadcast on the [[BBC Third Programme]] in 1962, which became a production at the [[Mermaid Theatre]] in 1963. It transferred to the [[West End theatre|West End]] before a very brief run on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. Naughton was a prolific writer of plays, novels, short stories and children's books. His preferred environment was working-class society, which is reflected in much of his written work.

In addition to ''Alfie'', two of his other plays have been made into feature films, ''[[All in Good Time (play)|All in Good Time]]'' (1963), filmed as ''[[The Family Way]]'' (1966), starring [[John Mills]], and ''[[Spring and Port Wine (film)|Spring and Port Wine]]'' (1970), starring [[James Mason]] in the role of Rafe Crompton, an adaptation of a play first performed in 1959.<ref name="four">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-four-cohen-vs-bryan-forbes-1969-71/|magazine=Filmink|access-date=24 January 2025|date=24 January 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Forgotten British Moguls – Nat Cohen Part Four: Cohen vs Bryan Forbes (1969-71)}}</ref>

His novel ''Alfie Darling'', the sequel to his earlier novel and play, [[Alfie Darling|was also filmed]], with [[Alan Price]] succeeding Michael Caine in the lead role. Both ''Alfie'' and ''Alfie Darling'' were drawn upon for the [[Alfie (2004 film)|2004 film]] with Jude Law in the eponymous role.

His work also includes the novel ''One Small Boy'' (1957), and the collection of short stories ''The Goalkeeper's Revenge And Other Stories'' (1961). His 1977 children's novel ''My Pal Spadger'' is an account of his childhood in 1920s Bolton. His wife died in 2014 aged 85.

Many of his plays were performed at the [[Octagon Theatre, Bolton]]. An 85-seat adaptable studio theatre within the Octagon is named after him.

==Awards== During his lifetime, he received the following awards: *Screenwriters Guide Award (1967 and 1968) *Italia Prize for Radio Play (1974) *Children's Rights Workshop Other Award (1978) *Portico Literary Prize (1987) *The Hon. Fellowship, [[Bolton Institute of Higher Education]] (1988).

==Death== Naughton died in 1992, aged 81, in [[Ballasalla]] on the [[Isle of Man]]. A "Bill Naughton Short Story Competition", administered by The Kenny/Naughton Autumn School, was named in his honour.<ref>{{Citation | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | title = The Bill Naughton Short Story Competition | year = 2008 | url = http://www.aghamoreireland.com/kennynaughton/shortstory.htm | accessdate = 2 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bill Naughton, 81, a British Playwright Who Created 'Alfie'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/11/arts/bill-naughton-81-a-british-playwright-who-created-alfie.html|work=New York Times|accessdate=19 June 2012|author=GLENN COLLINS|date=11 January 1992}}</ref>

==Bibliography== ===Plays=== * ''My Flesh, My Blood'' (1957) (revised as ''[[Spring and Port Wine]]'') * ''[[Alfie (play)|Alfie]]'' (1963) (adapted for 1966 film ''[[Alfie (1966 film)|Alfie]]'') * ''[[All in Good Time (play)|All in Good Time]]'' (1963) (adapted for 1966 film ''[[The Family Way]]'') * ''He Was Gone When We Got There'' (1966) * ''June Evening'' (1966) * ''[[Spring and Port Wine]]'' (1967) (adapted for 1970 film ''[[Spring and Port Wine (film)|Spring and Port Wine]]'') * ''Keep It in the Family'' (1967) (Americanized version of ''[[Spring and Port Wine]]'') * ''Annie And Fanny'' (1967) * ''Lighthearted Intercourse'' (1971) * ''Derby Day'' (1994)

===Novels=== * ''A Roof Over Your Head'' (1945) * ''Pony Boy'' (1946) * ''Rafe Granite'' (1947) * ''One Small Boy'' (1957) * ''Alfie'' (1966) * ''Alfie Darling'' (1970) * ''My Pal Spadger'' (1977)

===Short story collections=== * ''The Bedside [[Lilliput (magazine)|Lilliput]]'' (Hulton Press, 1950) [anthology inc. "Air On G String"] * ''Late Night on Watling Street'' (1959) * ''The Goalkeeper's Revenge'' (1961) * ''The Bees Have Stopped Working: And Other Stories'' (1976) * ''Spit Nolan'' (1988) * ''Ricky, Karim and Spit Nolan: Adventure Short Stories'' (2003) (with Jenny Alexander, Pratima Mitchell)

===Autobiography=== * ''On the Pig’s Back: An Autobiographical Excursion.'' Oxford: Oxford U.P.(1987) * ''Saintly Billy: A Catholic Boyhood.'' Oxford: Oxford U.P.(1988) * ''Neither Use Nor Ornament: A Memoir of Bolton: 1920s.'' Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe.(1995)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100127165957/http://www.boltonmuseums.org.uk/bolton-archives/bill-naughton Bolton Museum and Archive Service - Bill Naughton] *{{IMDb name|id=0622540|name=Bill Naughton}} *[http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/BNAUGHTON.HTML Radio plays at ukonline ]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naughton, Bill}} [[Category:Writers from Bolton]] [[Category:Prix Italia winners]] [[Category:1910 births]] [[Category:1992 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century English dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:English male dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:Proletarian literature]] [[Category:20th-century English male writers]] [[Category:People from Ballyhaunis]] [[Category:Writers from County Mayo]]