{{Short description|British actor and writer (1919–1998)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Use British English|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = Sir | name = Ronald Millar | image = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing brackets --> | alt = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|11|12|df=y}} | birth_place = Reading, Berkshire, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|04|16|1919|11|12|df=y}} | death_place = London, England | occupation = {{hlist|Actor|writer}} }} '''Sir Ronald Graeme Millar''' (12 November 1919&nbsp;– 16 April 1998) was an English actor, scriptwriter, and dramatist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/ronald-millar-8479|title=Ronald Millar – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB }}</ref> He also had a noteworthy career as a political speechwriter in the Conservative Party, and was particularly known for his collaboration with Margaret Thatcher.

==Background== Millar was born in Reading, Berkshire, on 12 November 1919.<ref name = Kavanagh>{{cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/720061551/|title = Sir Ronald Millar|last = Kavanagh|first = Dennis|date = 17 April 1998|work = The Independent|accessdate = 18 May 2025|via = Newspapers.com|url-access = subscription|page = 18}}</ref> He was the son of a professional actress, Dorothy Dacre-Hill, and his father died when he was a year old.<ref name = Kavanagh/> After attending Charterhouse School, Millar studied at King's College, Cambridge, for a year before joining the Royal Navy in 1940, during the Second World War.

Prior to becoming a full-time dramatist and then a speechwriter, he acted in a number of West End productions during and after World War II, in the company of luminaries as Ivor Novello, Alastair Sim and John Gielgud.<ref>Millar, Ronald, ''A View From the Wings'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London: 1993.</ref> He also appeared in the 1943 war film ''We Dive at Dawn'' directed by Anthony Asquith. One of his most well-received productions was ''Abelard and Heloise'' featuring Keith Michell and Diana Rigg.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/abelard-and-heloise-3589/#awards |title=Abelard and Heloise – Broadway Play |publisher=The Broadway League}}</ref>

==Career== He established himself as a playwright after the war and, between 1948 and 1954, worked in Hollywood, writing scripts for MGM.<ref name = Kavanagh/> These included ''The Miniver Story'' and ''Scaramouche'', both with George Froeschel.<ref name=Herald/>

On his return to Britain, he successfully adapted several C. P. Snow novels, ''The Affair'', ''The New Men'' and ''The Masters''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 April 1998 |title=Sir Ronald Millar |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12300229.sir-ronald-millar/ |access-date=19 June 2025 |website=The Herald |language=en}}</ref> In 1967 he adapted William Clark's novel ''Number 10''{{spaced ndash}}for the stage.<ref>Kavanagh, Denis, "Sir Ronald Millar", ''The Independent'', Financial Times Ltd., 1996 (ISSN 0951-9467).</ref> He also wrote the book and lyrics for the musical ''Robert and Elizabeth''.<ref name = Kavanagh/> He was deputy chairman of the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 1977 until his death.<ref name = Kavanagh/>

===Speechwriting=== Millar began his speechwriting career in 1969, writing for Edward Heath, but Heath reportedly did not appreciate his work.<ref name = Kavanagh/> He had a far longer and more successful collaboration with Margaret Thatcher when she became Conservative leader in 1975.<ref name = Kavanagh/> He would edit drafts in a process called "Ronnification", condensing long phrases and fitting the speech to the style of the speaker.<ref name = Kavanagh/> The first speech that Millar wrote for Thatcher included an Abraham Lincoln quote, "you cannot help the poor by destroying the rich". Among his most famous contributions for Thatcher was the line "The lady's not for turning".<ref name = Kavanagh/><ref>Berlinski, Claire, ''There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters'', Basic Books, First Trade Paper Edition, 2010, p.&nbsp;37.</ref> Millar also suggested that Thatcher, on her entrance to 10 Downing Street, should use the words that were attributed to St Francis of Assisi: "Where there is discord, let us bring harmony".<ref name=Herald>{{cite news |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12300229.sir-ronald-millar/ |title=Sir Ronald Millar |newspaper=Glasgow Herald |access-date=14 March 2021}}</ref> He was knighted after Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979.

He worked with Thatcher throughout her premiership, and continued with John Major.<ref name="Kavanagh" />

==Death== Millar died at King Edward VII's Hospital in London on 16 April 1998, at the age of 78.<ref name = Sylvester>{{cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/752271496/|title = Thatcher's speech writer dies at 77 [sic]|last = Sylvester|first = Rachel|date = 17 April 1998|accessdate = 18 May 2025|url-access = subscription|work = The Daily Telegraph|page = 14|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Paying tribute, Thatcher said that he helped her "express what I felt and meant" and that he was a man of remarkable artistic abilities and a "real believer in our whole philosophy'". John Major called him "a source of wise advice and wry comment".<ref name = Sylvester/>

==Selected filmography== * ''Frieda'' (1947) * ''So Evil My Love'' (1948) * ''Train of Events'' (1949) * ''The Miniver Story'' (1950) * ''The Unknown Man'' (1951) * ''Scaramouche'' (1952) * ''Never Let Me Go'' (1953) * ''Rose Marie'' (1954) * ''Betrayed'' (1954)

==Selected plays== * ''Frieda'' (1946) * ''Waiting for Gillian'' (1954) * ''The Bride and the Bachelor'' (1956) * ''The Big Tickle'' (1958)

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|0587697}} * {{IBDB name}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Ronald}} Category:1919 births Category:1998 deaths Category:20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century English LGBTQ people Category:20th-century English male actors Category:20th-century English male writers Category:20th-century English novelists Category:20th-century English screenwriters Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Category:British LGBTQ screenwriters Category:British male dramatists and playwrights Category:British male screenwriters Category:British speechwriters Category:English gay actors Category:English gay writers Category:English LGBTQ novelists Category:English male novelists Category:English male stage actors Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War II