Patrick Hamilton (dramatist)

Patrick Hamilton (March 17, 1904 - September 23, 1962) was an English playwright and novelist.

Related Topics:
March 17 - 1904 - September 23 - 1962 - English - Playwright - Novelist

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Born Anthony Walter Patrick Hamilton in the Sussex village of Hassocks, near Brighton, he attended Westminster School. After a short career as an actor, he became a successful novelist in his early twenties. He was well-regarded by Graham Greene and J. B. Priestley and his novels have undergone a revival recently through their distinctive style, deploying a Dickensian narrative voice to convey aspects of inter-war London street culture. Hangover Square is regarded as his most accomplished work and still sells well in paperback year on year. It deals with both the alcohol culture and underlying political context, such as the rise of fascism and responses to it. Hamilton was an avowed Marxist, though not a publicly declared member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Related Topics:
Sussex - Hassocks - Brighton - Westminster School - Graham Greene - J. B. Priestley - Dickensian - London - Fascism - Marxist - Communist Party of Great Britain

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His two most successful plays, Angel Street and Rope's End, made Hamilton a wealthy man and also found success as films: the British made Gaslight (1940) and the American remake Gaslight (1944) and Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948).

Related Topics:
Angel Street - Gaslight - 1940 - 1944 - Alfred Hitchcock's - Rope - 1948

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His novels include The Midnight Bell (1929), The Siege of Pleasure (1932) and The Plains of Cement (1934) (collectively known as 20,000 Streets Under the Sky, recently dramatized by the BBC), Hangover Square (1941) -- sometimes considered his master work -- The Slaves of Solitude (1947), The West Pier (1952), and Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse (1953), dramatized as The Charmer in 1987. These last two are part of the series known as The Gorse Trilogy, completed in 1955 by Hamilton's last published work, Unknown Assailant.

Related Topics:
The Midnight Bell - (1929) - The Siege of Pleasure - (1932) - The Plains of Cement - (1934) - 20,000 Streets Under the Sky - BBC - Hangover Square - (1941) - The Slaves of Solitude - (1947) - The West Pier - (1952) - Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse - (1953) - The Charmer - The Gorse Trilogy - Unknown Assailant

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After a declining career and depression, he died of cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure, in Sheringham, Norfolk.

Related Topics:
Sheringham - Norfolk

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Hamilton was recently the subject of a special season of films at the National Film Theatre in London, and continuing the strong recent revival of interest in his work the British TV channel BBC2 screened an adaptation of his interwar novel Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky in September 2005 alongside a documentary account of his life.

Related Topics:
National Film Theatre - London - BBC2 - Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky - September - 2005

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